Softer
by Ink Child
Summary: SequeltoStronger: A nightmare became real, their life put on hold, it will take a soft stregnth to bring her back. Itachi will pay, she will endure, he will be strong. HxS.IdunownNaruto.Chp 10:K fluffy humour. Last chapter. epilogue to follow.Finished.
1. Teaser: Softer

_**My name is Ink**_

**_I'm to be your author for the next few months; it's a pleasure to meet you. You are here to enjoy the sequel to Stronger. If you have not read Stronger and wish to read Softer, I suggest you go back and find the first fic, for the second will make no sense at all without it. _**

**_Warning: Softer is rated M, I will be rating each chapter as I see fit, and warning before any particularly explicit scenes that aren't absolutely necessary for the plotline. _**

**_Also, I would like to add that Softer is a very different fic from Stronger and will contain no fillers with very little, if any, fluff. Expect grit and sand in your eye instead. _**

**_Read and Review please!_**

**_-ink_**

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Summary: Their lives were put on hold, a happiness interuptted. Hinata must find the stregnth she gained the year before, survive for the sake of the only person who ever believed in her. Sasuke must find the softness within him to reach a higher level of power, her life depends on it. Softer, does not mean weaker.****

* * *

**Location: Akatsuki Head Quarters, specific location unknown**

_Drip…drip…drip…_

The impact of the water droplets against solid rock was loud… so loud. Each impact was throwing out pain like fire across her mind, burning away any realization of where she was, what she was, who she was, where she was from in the first place. None of that made any sense, none of that ever made any sense, not when you were listening to something that sounded like the sky was falling, over and over, a consistent pattern never to stop.

A moan escaped her, deep in her dry throat, her lips parted, coated in blood and cracked, aching as she strained to sit up slowly.

The cell was made of rough stone, it was uneven and slick, as if the pressure of it's own weight were squeezing the water from it, pores of it spilling it's contents.

There was no light, only the flickering dancing shadows cast from the flame that burned outside of her cell, the torch that was hanging from the wall making the images move, making the girl in the cell wonder briefly if she was hallucinating the snickering black shadows or not.

She blinked again, slowly, trying to figure out how she was sitting. Her arms felt like they were covered in ants or spiders, their little legs moving up and down her flesh. Slowly, groggily she strained to move her neck, each muscle screaming as she let it roll onto her shoulder so she could look up at her wrists, shackled to the wall, her weight hanging heavily on them. There were welts there, and blood, more blood, crusted and almost dry, breaking away in dry crusty bits to fall on her face as she shifted on her knees to lessen the strain, flinching as more pain came to haunt her.

Her throat was dry, her tongue feeling much like sandpaper in her mouth, thick and swollen. She didn't even acknowledge the hunger, knowing she would heave up whatever she was fed, disgusted by it's coarseness, her body would reject it and her neck would ache with the effort of vomiting over her swollen tongue.

She would be covered in her own fluids again, more blood spilling as she strained against the chains that bound her, her hair spilling into her own vomit as she wretched, and the guards would look at her coldly, silent, taking in her misery hungrily, as if it fed them, their health depending on her pain.

It had happened before, she knew it would happen again and so she never complained about the food.

It was the water… the water she wanted to complain about, but she couldn't, her lips were too cracked and painful to part and cry for help, for anything.

The moment hands had pressed the cup to her lips and forced her to swallow in large painful mouthfuls the bitter tasting thing she had flinched, gagged, tried to work herself to vomit the concoction, tasting herbs that reminded her of vague poison and sake. It was a hallucogen, something that would eventually force her body into an addictive state that knew nothing between reality and the dream world.

Her body had rejected it, spilled out the liquid along with bile and desperately needed water, but she had kept her sanity, at least a little of it.

Her rebellious act had been rewarded with beatings, hard fists to her face and body as she hung from the roof from her wrists, unable to scream because of the cloth stuffed into her face and the blindfold over her eyes. The blows came from nowhere and from everything, she knew not who was the one that whispered soft sickening words of perversion in her ear as a whip was swung to slice her flesh.

She didn't ever recognize their voices later, after coming back from what seemed like the very depths of hell she would be put back in her cell by silent beings that didn't speak and her blindfold would be removed in her sleep.

There were no faces, she knew no one, and no one ever reacted to her own words, the shadows that passed by her cell never turning as she screamed for their attention.

A nightmare, that was what it was, a long, endless dark nightmare.

In the silence that followed the beatings she would lay, listening to her own wheezing, the only sound aside from the rats scurrying from one side of her cell to the other. She would pray, to someone, or something for it to end, for her to wake.

Oka-san had said something once, not to her but a servant when she hadn't realized she was watching, she had said. _"Be careful when you pray, you do not know who will answer."_

…Her daughter learned that lesson the hard way.

* * *

Footsteps, soft quiet steps. She leaned her cheek against the ground, breathing in the damp smell of mildew that rose from the dirt and grit, almost feeling each impact as each step was taken.

They were getting stronger; she knew they were coming closer. Slowly she opened her eyes, feeling the heavy coating of sleep that covered her lashes crack as she blinked repeatedly to keep the dust of it from her eyes, red and swollen from straining not to cry for hours on end.

Somehow she was starting to think she would look and feel better if she just let herself sob to death, however that was something she wouldn't allow.

He would come for her, she knew he would.

Sasuke would come.

As if to mock her, the door of her cell opened and a dark shadow stood in the light of the flickering torch, his face hidden by the darkness that swallowed him. A high neck covered most of his face either way, but that didn't matter.

She could see the glittering red orbs that were his eyes as he studied the broken bleeding figure of her on the ground, looking at him through locks of ebony dark hair stained with mirk she had no name for.

"Hime-sama." A smooth voice stated, deep like the very depths of the ocean and just as cold. The reaction in her gut was a burning fire, her muscles clenching tighter and tighter until she was curled into fetal position, looking up at him from the ground, the Hinata that was her very core retreating to hide deeper in her mind. Running away, straining to keep herself safe, she had to be sure, had to be sure that she was there when Sasuke came. Itachi couldn't break her. So in silence she hid herself, layers of memories and pain and dazed unresponsiveness piled on top of each other to shield her. Only instinct remained, a fear that made her freeze and stare at him silently, animalistic eyes fixated first on his face.

_Don't! Go away! Go AWAY!!_

He walked towards her, ignoring her silent screams, stopping a few inches away. He loomed above her, a thousand feet high, his power over her complete and absolute, but she could see he did not wish to get his beautiful black cloak dirty with her filth, the red clouds were so pretty….

Her eyes looked dazedly on the image. She had not seen any other color but black and brown for what seemed like an eternity…

"She's not responding." A gruff voice behind him almost laughed. "Useless. She's not even a shadow of what we faced not long ago."

"I did not think her so easily broken." Itachi admitted reluctantly, studying the glazed gaze of the Hyuuga before him, staring at the cloud on his cloak, seemingly gone. She was not particularly threatened by his presence, nor was she angry and spiteful.

This was not amusing at all.

Jaw clenching he turned around, walking out of the cell after Kisame, letting the shark slam the door forcefully.

"Orochimaru went further than I expected with her. It appears her mind is broken." Itachi murmured smoothly, as if talking about a particularly dull business project that had gone wrong.

"I needed her to be alive."

"Well she's breathing." Kisame grunted. "What more do you want?"

"She's gone, there's no mind there."

"Did you look inside?" the shark asked, bored with the conversation, it made no sense to speak of such a petty thing. The girl was breathing, that was all they needed. A dunk in cold water and some clean clothes she would look just as she did, albeit a little thin and bruised.

"I didn't have to." Itachi responded thinly, glancing half calm at his partner. "She's not there."

Kisame only shrugged, unconcerned. "So…what now?"

"Orochimaru." Itachi replied, as if it were obvious, heading up rough wooden planks that were supposed to represent steps, making a point not to touch the muddy walls until the reached a landing that turned the steps into cool alabaster and the walls marble white and smooth.

Slowly they moved up until they reached the first floor, opening the door to step into a foyer of black metal, white marble and glass. Pillars rose in a semi circle facing the double doors that were the entrance opposite of the staircase that led up to a surrounding balcony. Chandeliers of crystal hung above them, dark in the giant rafters.

As if on cue the double doors across from them opened and a young woman stepped in, dark haired, the curling mane of ebony black contrasting with her white face and red as blood lips, huge green eyes expressive as they caught sight of Itachi and Kisame.

"Itachi." She said smoothly, sensuality rolling out of her in waves as she walked towards them slowly, hips swaying to a rhythm.

"She's not responding even to my presence." Itachi stated softly, unconcerned with the show of snakes that glided over her skin and moved to wrap around her arms came up.

"Oh? That's a shame, I told my men to be careful not to destroy that precious little mind you wanted so much." The woman continued, her voice marring in and out with that of a male. She looked up at him, licking her lips, her tongue abnormally long and dark purple.

Itachi did not reply, but watched silently, sharingan rotating slowly for half a moment before locking down, his gaze returning to ebony black.

"I need her mind." There was an underlining demand there. Orochimaru let out a bored sigh, pushing hair from the smooth face of his knew host body.

"I'll see what I can do." He muttered. "She's alive still, is that not enough?"

Itachi closed his eyes, seeking patience. "We had an agreement."

Orochimaru licked his lips again, leaving saliva covering the supple red skin. "I recall."

"In order to complete our bargain, I require her mind to be intact. Breaking Sasuke's mind is easier when I have her." Itachi repeated slowly, something he had obviously explained before. "Once his mind breaks, you may do what you want with his body."

"I'll go see what I can do." Orochimaru crooned, turning to head the way they had come, the snakes moving slowly to a dance, eyes locked on the two shinobi in black cloaks.

No more needed to be said, the girl would come back…

Kicking and screaming, and probably sobbing, but she would come back.

* * *

**Location: Kohona, Hokage Clinic, Intensive Care**

Beep…beep…beep…

_Darkness swam in dark pools of ink and oil in his line of vision, reflecting oddly colored lights that came from nowhere, dark shadowed images of a small face he loved too much and tears making his brow furrow into a frown. _

_He had failed someone again, the pain that was familiar in his chest had doubled, tightening across his heart like a slave's collar, hindering his breathing. _

_A small voice inside of him that sounded very much like himself was tugging at the hand of his soul, pulling him back into the darkness. _

_"Don't go! Don't go out there… the world is out there!" _

_He stared down at the child, realizing that it was himself, small seven year old Sasuke, wide eyed and tearful, begging for him to stay. _

_"I have to, something calls me." His voice resonated, making ripples in the reality of the dream world he was in. _

_Little Sasuke let go, slowly…hands shaking, tears streaming down his face, making a part of the older Sasuke feel shame at his own weakness. _

_"Pain is out there." _

_But he still left. _

With a gasp like a man breaking the surface of water he lurched up, breathing in sharply, straining to rip the medical mask off his face to drag in air, straining to return to sanity, the lights were too bright sending lightening bolts of pain into his head like knives.

"Sasuke! Sasuke stop!" A familiar voice cried. His brain jump started, taking in the thousand and one signals, the stimulation to his senses making him dizzy, a migraine beginning to take hold starting at the base of his neck.

"Shit, get him to stop moving!" Another familiar voice, deeper. His ears strained, mind reeling with all the information being stuffed into it.

He tried to open his eyes again to find the light a thousand times worse than the first time he had tried.

Hands were suddenly there, pushing him down forcefully, against soft sheets and cables. Something was beeping frantically in the background.

**_Beep,beep,beep,beep…_ **

"Sasuke!" He opened his eyes, feeling the soft breath of someone near his face. She was blocking the light, oh thank all the gods.

Pink hair and green eyes stared at him, blinking rapidly, a worried frown there between her brows, marring the delicate features he recognized slowly.

"Sakura?"

"Don't move, please don't move."

"I can't breathe." He stated, and she moved slightly, her hands loosening their grip on his body.

"You were having a panic attack." Her voice was wobbly, lips trembling, the huge green eyes staring at him filling with tears rapidly. "S-sasuke…"

"You idiot." Naruto grunted as he stepped up beside her, looking down at him with a frown of his own. "How are you feeling?"

He didn't want to think about that, everything was a pile of throbbing pain, even his brain hurt.

"Where am I?"

"Tsunade-sama's hospital, the intensive care ward." Sakura whispered, hand up to her face, wiping away tears. "She had a lot of trouble stabilizing you."

Sasuke was silent, staring up at the roof, black eyes dazed.

_Stabalizing? What happened-? _

"Hinata!" he gasped suddenly, sitting up sharply again. Naruto forced him back down forcefully, struggling against the surprising strength of the wounded shinobi. "Stop moving, goddamnit, you bloody idiot!" He growled, closing his eyes tightly. "You were almost dead, the poison they used was like that of Sasori of the Red Sand." He shouted, holding him down. "Tsunade and Sakura almost lost you!"

"Hinata. Hinata, Naruto." He stared, panting heavily as his heart began to speed up again. "Where-"

"Sasuke." Sakura interrupted, pressing in on him suddenly, putting a hand on his shoulder, eyes searching his.

"You-you've been in a coma for three weeks…"

If there was ever a sensation worse than falling from the sky, the feeling that overcame him was it.

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**_This was the Softer Teaser. This story is a HinataxSasuke romance. _**

**_Also, I have not watched further than episode 216 on Naruto and I haven't read much of the manga, so I'm going to be fiddling with the information I have, if you guys have any tidbit of interesting information for me from the show or manga that you guys might think is good for me to know, please PM so I will have a look at it. _**

**_Thank you very much for reading! Leave a message! _**

**_-ink _**


	2. Chp 1: I Saw It

_"What are you doing here?" her mother's voice echoed, making ripples in reality that spread over the stillness of her mind. The wind waved, the flowers danced and the blood like pollen spread over the breeze, catching the rhythm of the thunder and lightening in the distance. _

_Hinata ignored her for a moment, staring out and flinching at what she thought might be the sight of a dark red cloud against the black sky. _

_Her lips moved, breathing the word and refusing to say it out loud. _

_"Akatsuki." _

_Her mother, or the image of her mother, the girl that had appeared in what she had started to call her 'dreams' waited impatiently for her to say something in reply to her question, shifting on the dry grass of the flower field, the chains that bound her making a harmonizing melody with the wind as they jingled and clinked. _

_"I am hiding." Hinata admitted, realizing that the girl would keep on waiting for an answer and refuse to leave it alone, no matter how long she held her own and ignored her. _

_She was as stubborn as all her friends and herself put together, something she knew to be utterly true. The vision of her mother was in fact that, the embodiment of all of her strengths and everything violent she had ever feared in herself shoved into one being. _

_As a result she moved and spoke and had the temperament of a caged lion, smirking with patronizing arrogance when Hinata refused to answer her questions or failed to understand answers to her own pleaded enquiries. _

_"Hiding from what?" The being sighed, apparently bored, leaning back, the chains had moved to wrap around her wrists sometime in the past two hours… or two weeks, or two years. Hinata didn't know the passing of time in her mind. The sun never came up, and the moon never went down, there was no way to tell. Sometimes she felt fatigued, as if she had been there awake for what felt like eternity, other times she would blink and feel disoriented as if she had just arrived. _

_But nothing ever changed, nothing except for the girl who watched her with deadly lavender eyes, her lips curling into grimaced smirks of disgust. _

_The Hyuuga heiress did not have to ask to know that she thought she was pathetic. _

_"I don't… I'm not sure." She admitted after a moment, frowning, her mind reached out to find the answer to why she was hiding in the place that scared her so much all the time with this being that made her so nervous. Were it not for the chains she was sure she would be dead already. However the doors closed to the answer. In order to remain safe she could not think about it. That was a rule, somewhere in her mind she had made that rule and it was being enforced. _

_"You don't know." The girl replied, as if she had somehow expected that. Languidly she leaned back, reaching to fiddle with the ends of her long hair, staring at strands thoughtfully in the moonlight. _

_Hinata stared at her in turn, studying the creature that looked so much like her and so much like her mother… and Hanabi… and yet moved with the grace of all the deadly shinobi she knew. _

_Somehow she had decided that the girl couldn't really be a part of her. It didn't make sense. She wasn't like that… she wasn't…dangerous. _

_The girl looked up, as if hearing the thought, the ever present smirk tainting her lips, eyes flashing with the danger Hinata had just thought of. _

_"If you let me go, I might be able to help you get rid of whatever you're hiding from." She said, sounding hesitant, as if she were venturing out to say something reluctantly. Her face seemed to take on another emotion, sliding more to the expression she had seen Hanabi adopt when asking Neji to do something for her she thought unlikely of him. _

_She looked almost innocent, however the chains that bound her and the welts that were there showing how she had often strained against them reminded her of how not innocent she probably was. _

_"No." she began slowly, after turning the idea over in her mind. The truth was she scared her, that girl, that was locked up inside of her, she was there for a reason, chained and bound. She wasn't even at the same level as the feline that had symbolized her anger, her potential. _

_This being was a totally different thing. She shivered, staring at the melting expression on the girl's face as it turned sour. _

_This being… represented pent up hate. _

_"Useless." The girl whispered, saying the word calmly, but grimacing as if it left a bad venomous taste in her mouth. She turned away, refusing to look at Hinata. _

_"This is the weakness they all speak of." _

_Hinata flinched, knowing full well what she was talking about. What her father had said, what a lot of people had said. Her fear… it was true, that was probably the weakness they spoke of. _

_But she refused, there was no need to unleash the hate held carefully within herself. Sasuke would come. _

_Her thoughts stumbled, flashes of memory coursing through her veins. _

_Sasuke… he… _

Blood, her blood, spilling rapidly as whips found her, knives cut her and she was healed again, only to begin the process, to begin torturing again. Their hands all over her skin, touching, tasting, sampling her as if she were some forbidden fruit they could just take.

_She flinched, loosing her balance, knees buckling under her to hit the grass, hands reaching up to block the images, tangling her fingers in her hair. _

_"No…" _

"Come out, sweetheart, come out…" the venomous voice belonged to someone, it was ripping through her, a headache worse than anything she had ever imagined beginning at the base of her neck. He was so close, he was whispering but it was so loud.

The slithering voice continued, a mantra whispering softly, and she felt herself fight, fingers digging into skin that wasn't her own, pushing them away, because they were there… they were so close… they were-

_"Oh God…" she gasped, tears pouring down her face, crumbling into herself, eyes shut tightly, fighting the feelings and sensations of reality, her body wavering in her mind, starting to disappear, turning into a powder of lavender and ash twisted away by the foul winds. _

_The girl sat up sharply, watching her, reaching out growling at the sudden pull of the chains tightening, restricting her movements. "No! Let me go!" _

He was there, and she was sobbing, realizing that the tongue in her mouth was his. His lips pressed firmly against hers, invading her, the taste making her gag. With a monumental effort she turned her head away, screaming out in a wordless plea for mercy. Sobbing harder and louder than she had ever, her chest rising and falling, restricted by his body pressed against her. Pushing her into the ground, straddling her waist, fingers sliding powerfully under her shirt, the other hand holding her wrists pressed firmly over her head against the ground.

"Scream for me, sweetheart…"

_She was fading, the wind tugging at her harder, taking her away, disappearing into the breeze, she was sobbing too, her tears a silver wash of sparkles as they mingled with the bloody pollen of the black flowers. _

_The girl was screaming, fury and hatred burning in her eyes, pulling against the chains forcefully, the metal groaned, straining to contain the monster, taut and fighting. _

_"NO! Don't give up! Let me out! Let me out instead!" _

_Hinata opened her eyes, staring at her, tears brimming as the wind took the rest of her away, seeing only the desperation and hunger for blood splashed across Oka-san's face. _

_Her face. _

_"Let me out!" _

_And then she was whisked away. _

A single petrified scream echoed as she lurched, straining against him with energy that came from some hidden reserve within her. "NO!"

His hands slid down her bare stomach, lustful eyes watching her back arching, straining to breath, chest rising and falling in a harsh attempt to gain air. She twisted harder, making his hand ache dully with the strength of her force, drawing a satisfied smirk from his pale face.

One long purple tongue slid out, licking his lips as his hand slid further down, stopping with a tug to her pants, tunic and belt.

She froze suddenly, a gasp forcing her into utter silence, staring up at the ceiling of the filthy cell with wide unseeing eyes.

_No. No… don't do this to me… no… _

Orochimaru watched, eyes glistening with the lust of tasting fine flesh. He smirked, tugging again on her belt, watching her unfocused gaze suddenly sharpen, a sparkle of life flooding her lavender eyes with knowledge.

"Welcome back." He laughed, a mocking humiliating chuckle that crawled over her skin, making her feel drenched in filth.

"Just in time for the finale…" he tugged again, the belt beginning to slide from her waist.

With a silent movement of precision Hinata snapped her wrists out of his grip, twisting sharply, managing to make him scrambling to grab her dangerous hands again before they blocked any chakra holes, her tear-filled eyes lined with the Byakugan veins. "No! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!!"

"Everyone returns when something precious is threatened." Orochimaru whispered, forcing her back down to the ground, lips pressing forcefully against her neck, tongue sliding out to leave a trail of slick saliva on her sweat soaked skin.

"Everyone returns."

The door flung open, a slam of metal against solid brick wall casting the full light of the flickering torch in the hall onto the morbidly sickening scene.

Itachi stood there, looking impassively in, apparently taking no note of the torn clothes that barely covered the Hyuuga Heiress.

Orochimaru growled, standing up smoothly, shoving her hard against the rocks unnecessarily for good measure, making her head hit the solid material with a loud crack.

Pain like no other spread towards her eyes and she gasped, curling into herself, hands reaching up to touch the bleeding on the back of her head, eyes scrunched shut, her body heaving with sobs and contained screams.

"I heard her." Itachi replied smoothly, watching with unveiled disgust as Orochimaru rearranged his clothing again, straightening his hair with his fingers silently, his face once more the classic image of the Sannin from Konoha.

"She's back." The snake replied thinly, turning his murderous gaze on the unlikely Uchiha.

"That is enough then." Itachi replied, moving into the room silently, avoiding the spilled bile and blood that was drenching a larger portion of the cell than he thought normal.

It had been over three days since Orochimaru had started to retrieve the heiress from the depths of her mind. With a lot of sniggering and some smart aleck comments from Kisame the Sannin had stated that he would get her to respond that very day for sure.

He had spent most of the day working on it, obviously… and perhaps even enjoying it.

Silently the Uchiha crouched down beside the girl, studying her shivering bruised form thoughtfully. She had been wounded and healed repeatedly in the past week, but the last few hours had certainly taken it's toll, almost every inch of bare skin was yellow purple or a sickening green, slashes of nails, whips and knives striped her all over and the remnants of her clothing were tatters barely held together in places showing the obviously tempting body beneath.

"Hyuuga." He stated, dimly aware of Orochimaru's presence at his back, studying the situation with a bitter air.

Slowly Hinata opened her eyes, staring past dark locks of hair at the ground, but the brilliance he had seen during the Chuunin Exam was there, glittering dully.

"…what is it you want?" her voice broke, dry from no water for days as well as sobbing and screaming without stop.

Daringly her lavender gaze shifted upwards to meet his own black onyx, impassive but still brilliantly herself.

He smirked. That was it… that vague silent arrogance. It was infuriating and amusing all at once, and he needed it.

"You hid well." He complimented without a change in monotone, looking back without bothering to use his Sharingan. She was as broken as he needed her, that was enough. Obviously she still had hopes of escaping, as stated her daring stare into his eyes.

The princess refused to reply, lowering her gaze back to the ground before closing her eyes, coughing softly, her lips tainted with blood.

It was true, however, she had hidden herself very well. Orochimaru was a master of torture, he could break anyone, the fact that he hadn't been able to with this one had obviously stained his perfect record.

But everyone broke with enough pressure.

"Excuse me." Itachi added, reaching out and taking a lock of dark hair between two fingers, watching curiously as she opened her eyes, looking directly at him without much shame. The reality of her position was obvious to her now… they could do with her what they wanted…

Unless Itachi said no.

Looking back at her silently the Uchiha pulled out a kunai, flicking it with a smooth twist of his wrist, the ink dark lock severed sharply.

"Collect some of her blood." He added, standing up, no longer looking at her with any particular interest. He handed the lock of hair over to silent shinobi who's face was covered almost completely except for shadowed dark eyes.

She had not noticed his presence until then.

The shinobi took the lock of hair and nodded, waiting for the two masters to leave the room, which they did, without a look back at their prisoner. The door slammed, the echo of its metallic twang making the very marrow in her bones vibrate.

She sighed, closing her eyes, melting into the stone with relief; however her ears tuned into their steps and their fading voices, words being spoken that needed to be heard.

"I require her intact." Itachi stated, sounding vaguely exasperated. They had had that discussion before, it seemed, this was not a new topic.

Orochimaru replied with the same languid carelessness he always used, the perversion in his voice marking it as unique.

"Her mind is intact."

"Her body as well, that is part of our agreement, her mind will break too soon otherwise."

"I do not see the point."

"Sasuke will break easier if she is there to be shattered in his presence, out of his reach."

"Are you attempting to tell me I can't-"

"Yes." There was impatience suddenly, a sound she had never heard from Itachi, their voices almost gone completely as they started up the steps. "Do not touch her…"

And she sobbed, softly in relief, though the darkly dressed shinobi assumed she sobbed from the pain of the kunai slicing through her vein and the blood collected in a small basin as it fell.

But she could no longer feel such touch, or such pain. It was too familiar.

Far too familiar.

_Giggling, it was a sound he used to detest a long time ago, when it came from girls he did not know, and could not understand. But her giggling was different, it made him feel his lips twitch softly into a smile as he watched. _

_"Look at him…" Hinata whispered, crouched by the window of the pet shop where she had bought Sasu. _

_The window still contained kittens, the little fur balls falling over each other as gracefully as ever, tumbling and mewing and blinking in the bright light as if irritated that the sun was out. _

_Amongst the bunch was a white poof of hair that sat in the middle of the chaos of the other kittens looking around as if he didn't know what to do, nipping gently at the others as they ran by, apparently trying to catch their attention and failing miserably until he lowered his head onto his small paws and watched them, gray eyes following in their wake as they continued to play and tumble happily from one side of the pen to the other. _

_Hinata giggled again, shaking her head. "He looks so out of place." She added, stretching slightly as she stood, slipping her hand into his as they started to walk away through the snow, their breath making clouds in the air. _

_He watched her, the way her eyes lit up and she laughed, reminding him of when she had first gained Sasu. Her birthday had passed, but the party for it had been planned for a few days afterwards anyway, Sakura said it was to make sure she was settled in as heiress before she got drunk again. _

_He hadn't bought her a present yet as a result, but had taken to dragging her around the shops in the evening after dinner, watching as she doted over certain peculiar things, none of which seemed to matter to her too much. _

_But that kitten seemed to do it, and though they already had one cat and he didn't want to invite the competition of another he had to admit that particular furball made him want to pick him up and enquire what was the problem before handing him a bowl of cream… or whatever cats liked. _

_That would be his present. He smirked as she mumbled about Ino and Sakura and one of their odd antics at the clinic. _

_He had found the present, at least that was good news… _

_…good news… _

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, forcing his dark gaze to slide from the window and the falling snow to the stark white door and it's gray door knob.

He didn't move to answer it, staring silently. His eyes seemed darker because of the shadows that had formed under them over the past week. Insomnia had taken over and despite his best attempts he could not sleep. Several times he had been sedated against his wishes, Tsunade entering and though she looked just as tired as he did she was the one that held the syringe and the power to stab it into his neck, forcing him into a dreamless sleep that left him feeling worse than before.

Outside of the door he knew that a Hyuuga sat, at all times, one of the members of little importance but still with the Byakugan. He had become aware of it the first time he had attempted to leave and both Sakura and Naruto appeared within seconds to force him back, Sakura begging, Naruto demanding.

They did not speak of the monstrous nightmare in which they were all living, each visit they paid him was silent, with Sakura attempting not to burst into tears as he refused to speak and Naruto trying to get him to talk about something… anything other than the obvious.

He hated them more just because of that.

The knock on the door repeated itself, and he closed his eyes, sighing deeply, straining to think, his thoughts a mess of tangled emotion and hidden anger that was draining him. It felt like trying to hold back a berserk, something designed within him to reach out and destroy, to find Akatsuki and his damned brother simply from instinct…

The door opened and closed, a silence heavier than usual weighing the air in the room until he bothered to open his eyes and turn to look in the direction of the intruder, already knowing who it would be from the soft sniffs that echoed and the idle movement of her jacket.

Hanabi stood against the door, back pressed there staring at him, her eyes as red rimmed as Sakura's, biting her lip, pale and sickly just as he remembered her.

Obviously the knowledge that her sister had been snatched right under her nose had done nothing to improve the girl's already failing health due to the disagreeable way her family had trained her.

Hinata would be so worried… if she were there…

"I-I came…" Hanabi whispered slowly, staring at him the way a small child would look up towards some idol of utter importance. "I came as soon as Naruto-san told me you were awake and the elder's allowed me to come…"

Sasuke stared at her silently, looking away only at the tiredness of counting the many similarities between the child, and the one who had stolen his heart.

"Gomen…" Hanabi began again as he looked away, her voice wobbling with the effort of maintaining calm. "T-they wouldn't l-let me leave. Something about protecting-"

"What are you doing here, Hanabi?" the avenger stated softly, his voice a dark tone that slid over the heavy awkward air and made her flinch, closing her eyes, ignoring the fact that tears escaped her grasp to fall down her sick pale face.

"…you're leaving soon, aren't you." It was a statement, almost an accusation, forcing him to turn to look at her, dark eyes like ink almost dead, except for the frown of warning marring his abnormally beautiful features.

"Hai."

The young Hyuuga took a deep breath, turning to look at him with wide eyes before her jaw clenched in determination, an expression flowing over her face that he had not seen but knew would bring something unhelpful.

"Take me with you."

There was no thought process involved at that statement. Silently he turned away, his fingers playing idly with the strands of white bandages wrapped around his arm. It ached from having the poison spread there first, concentrating on cutting off his blood circulation. It had yet to heal properly but at Sakura's hands would be fine within a few hours in the evening.

With that many factors against him he didn't need to consider the options concerning the current Hyuuga in his sight.

"No."

Small angry footsteps ran around his bed, her hands snatching at his clothing, taking handfuls of his clothes, voice broken and shaking as her fingers tightened. "Don't tell me that! I can't stay! I can't!" weeping heavily the little girl stared up at him, shaking her head. "Please don't make me stay-"

Sasuke stared down at her, meeting the pale lavender of eyes that were utterly familiar and yet so different. The feeling made him draw back sharply, shoving her hands away, memory flooding his mind, images of Hinata's own gaze staring up at him, pleading to let her follow him after his brother.

He had said no then as well.

Startled and a little unnerved he frowned, a wall of solid cold ice beginning to build between himself and the child that was supposed to soon be his sister-in-law.

"No." he snapped again, shoving her hands away with a frustrated expression, making her stumble back in surprise, looking at him through a veil of salty tears.

"She's my sister!" Hanabi whispered bitterly. "I have to go!"

"Get out." The Avenger whispered softly, turning away, worn already by being so close to someone that reminded him so much of her. "Get out."

Sobbing, shaking hard from the effort of not collapsing Hanabi turned stumbling out the door quickly, slamming it hard behind her.

And there the reminding ended. Hinata was not like that…

Hinata would have smiled softly, shaken her head, tearfully turned away.

And gone anyway.

Tsunade stared up at him, her expression so blank that even the Kyuubi vessel looked away, hands tightening into clenched fists of frustration.

"…I don't know what to say." The Hokage whispered slowly, her hands clasped in front of her face, staring absently at the wood of her desk.

"The Hyuugas were supposed to find her… it's their heiress… it's their clan responsibility, and their ability for recon…" she stopped, closing her eyes to think, a headache throbbing from the base of her neck up to push against her eyelids.

"They haven't found a thing." Naruto replied slowly, throwing down the useless report on her cluttered desk with a less than friendly attitude, his blue eyes glittering with hardly contained rage. "Nothing. They've vanished."

"No leads, no whispers, no anything?" Tsunade murmured softly, disbelief making her feel slightly sick.

Naruto stared at her in silence for a moment, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"Nothing."

For a moment the powerful Sannin's hands shook, until they clenched tightly white knuckled and silent she pressed her lips into a thin line, staring at him knowingly.

"I cannot send any of the Rookie Nine on recon, Naruto."

The expression upon his face stated the hardly contained rage, the impatience and frustration, but to his credit he remained still, only the flashing of his eyes and the blood that seeped from his forcefully clenched fists told any tale of how angry he truly was.

"…Sasuke has been healing for a week and a half since he woke up." He began slowly, staring directly at Tsunade without veiling his impatience. "He's going to go after them. He's going to vanish if we don't do something. And he's not going to wait for permission."

"I can't send you out!" Tsunade shouted suddenly, jumping to her feet, a frustration equal to his welling within her chest. The idea of Hinata alone in the hands of the disgusting rabble of psychotic men was enough to make her want to gag. The girl was powerful and beautiful and everything that those men wanted to destroy…

And that was what they would do, they would destroy that beauty-

"They took Hinata!" finally loosing his grip on control the young man slammed his fist into the desk, denting it heavily, papers crushed under his force. "We have to-"

"They want you! You and Sasuke! I cannot give them what they want! They expect you to leave, to try and find her-"

"Are you planning on doing _nothing_?" Naruto hissed, the flickers of dangerous chakra beginning to crawl over her skin. The fox within him shifted, and she could feel it, its resonating power making her frown.

"I cannot send you out." The way she stated it was a closing, but that wasn't enough, not in this case.

"It's Akatsuki." Naruto whispered in a dangerous tone that she had never heard slipping out of his mouth.

"Soon, none of the Rookie Nine will come to you to be deployed, they'll come to let you know they're leaving, and there won't be anything you can do to stop it."

Tsunade had never worried, not for fear of what the men and women under her command could do should they wished to disobey her orders, but the brilliant blue stare of the young man before her told her that was a foolhardy thing to do.

They were powerful individuals, and together a force to reckon with.

"…don't expect us to stick around much longer." Naruto muttered, spitting the words out under his breath as he turned around, flinging the door open with force.

He left without being dismissed and without caring much about the woman standing behind her desk and the fact that she had not thrown anything nor demanded that he stay.

Her power had dried up.

Hanabi was sobbing, her entire body shaking so hard that Tenten was having trouble just holding on to her, clenching the little shoulders with shaking hands of her own, staring down at the child with wide eyed tear filled eyes herself.

"Oh, Hanabi…" she whispered, shaking her head, tightening her hold on the little girl, letting her bury her face in her clothing.

Neji stood in the background, the sitting room in the Hyuuga estate was deserted, after a glare and some silence from the young man all servants had run out, leaving the little princess the privacy to collapse into the arms of the only other girl she had ever felt comfortable with aside from her sister.

"…I c-c-can't do anything!" Hanabi sobbed, little fingers tightening sharply on Tenten's shirt, arms wound tightly around the older girl, holding on like a life-line.

Tenten bit her lip, straining not to cry from her own feeling of helplessness. Swallowing she looked up at Neji, catching his eyes without trouble.

They were shadowed, a white endless void eating up his emotions so that by some miracle only a small frown of worry tinted his face. But his hands betrayed the truth of his heart, for his knuckles were white clenched tightly in an effort to remain calm.

After visiting Sasuke Hanabi had run into Naruto who had been forced to let her read the reports from her own family recon unit.

It had not been good news.

"They took her! And they won't give her back!" Hanabi continued, words spilling from her mouth without her thinking it.

"They're going to kill her!"

Tenten's eyes snapped up to Neji just in time to see the break in his control, the emotions of shock and worry splashing across his eyes, filling those usually pale eyes like a white canvas.

"What?' He gasped softly, crouching down beside his cousin, tugging her gently from Tenten's grip.

"Hanabi! Don't say such things-" he began, pulling her into his arms.

The girl pulled back, taking his shoulders so she could look at his face. "You don't understand!" Her voice broke again. "I have to go! I have to go save her- I saw it!" her hands reached up, burying her face in her shaking fingers.

The two shinobi froze, a feeling so cold that their bodies shivered swelling in their chests. Hiashi had told Neji of what the elders knew… of what Hinata's Byakugan and probably Hanabi's could do.

Premonitions of a not so distant future…Whispers of what might be happening, or might have happened…

"I saw them kill her!"

**_Hello my dear reviewers… _**

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**_I'm so sorry for the murderously long delay. If any of you are wondering what the heck is wrong with me and why I didn't update in so long let me explain. _**

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**_I fell from a tree 25 feet down. Lol, totally destroyed my ankle and I've been on some very strong medication because to rebuild my ankle they had to do some surgery in which they put screws and plates in and so that it doesn't get infected and so that it doesn't hurt like hell ALL the time I had to take pills. _**

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**_They affected my memory and my concentration quite a bit, so I wasn't able to post anything that didn't sound like utter rubbish. _**

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**_This one is the best one of like… seven tries at the chapter, all of them are trash I think, I'm going to rewrite this if I ever get the chance. But for now I'm going to keep going and post the next few chapters if I can remember what was supposed to happen in them… ((sigh)) _**

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**_Leave me a bit of love, ne? _**

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**_-inky _**


	3. Chp 2: Blood and Lavender

Nighttime was not the time to speak to someone like the Hokage, no one wanted to bother her, it was a decided rule. Why in heaven's name would anyone risk their lives to speak to her after she had drunk herself into a stupor to drown away the impending worries of being the leader of a nation...?

No one was crazy enough for that.

Unless something worse was at stake.

Through the darkness of the night the bird had flown, moving its hard mechanical looking wings in odd off-beats to reach the higher towers of the Hokage's offices.

The blue moon continued to glow in the distance, a stark reminder of another day wasted with a woman's life in the grips of death itself.

Tsunade sat silently in her private rooms, staring out into the darkness with an expression that was hard to define. The downward turn of her supposedly young lips stated the displeasure and the frown between her brows the worry.

It was the pale deadening silence of her gaze that told the truth about her pain, the feeling of failure that weighed her shoulders down so they sagged and reclined against the window's frame.

_I failed her… I failed them all… _

Naruto's words echoed through her head, a million broken records stating the truth of her position. No doubt the other shinobi were readying themselves to leave on a search that would probably be fruitless. Knowing Akatsuki, the shinobi would be out looking for Hinata in the middle of nowhere when a hint of their enemy's location would come in and they would be too far to reach their target in time.

It didn't matter that they all knew that to be the truth. Weeks were creeping by and they still hadn't found even the smallest hint of her location.

Tsunade hadn't worried herself about that, however. She had concentrated on finding a motive, a reason why Akatsuki would take the heiress to such a violent clan as the Hyuuga.

A thousand and one reasons seemed determined to make themselves obvious to her the moment she had a team to work on the case.

It wasn't hard for anyone to see the first couple. She was Tsunade's apprentice, one of two and one she openly favored. She was Sasuke Uchiha's own fiancé, as well as the head of a prestigious clan with a powerful blood limit that Orochimaru himself would gladly snatch as a vessel.

And… after some squabbling with the elders of the Hyuuga they came to the other possibility.

She could see, from time to time, the future.

That was reason enough for anyone. Lesser reasons brought up negative thoughts about her survival, reasons like Kisame's likely wish for revenge, or Itachi's wish to destroy the reason his brother refused to chase after him the way he had for years.

Tsunade hadn't been dumb enough to keep the research team working on the situation. Akatsuki had enough motives, apparently… there was nothing left but to find her and bring her back.

But that would prove to be the hardest part…

Sighing heavily the Hokage lowered her head onto her arms, blinking at the giant moon in the distance and the shadows it cast haphazardly on the buildings of the village.

"…there's nothing I can do."

Instinctively her hands moved to grasp the cup of sake beside her, lifting it to her lips silently.

The liquid swirled within the small container, moving with the subtle grace of metal, the smell of the powerful liquor reaching up to tickle her nose.

"Nothing left but to drink…"

She stared dazedly at the half poison, shaking her head in silence before taking the whole thing in her mouth and downing the liquid fire, feeling it sliding down her throat evilly. Wincing visibly she looked up towards the moon again and froze.

"…bird…?"

Slowly she stood, frowning at it, leaning towards the window, watching the white mechanized looking creature pass up over the window towards the higher towers.

"…what the hell?"

For a moment she turned, starting towards the doorway as if to run upstairs to receive the thing, but stopped, listening silently instead to the sound of voices down the hall.

If it was anything important they would bring it to her, they would tell her… and getting up was going to be hell after taking that much sake in one night.

Silently she sat down again as if to ignore the nagging sensation of importance that the bird had brought forth in her chest as her eyes took him in.

Just as she was making up her mind to get up and run out to see what it was the door flung open, making her start, looking at Shizune in surprise, noting there was a scroll in her hands.

"Tsunade-sama!" the girl cried, looking frazzled, eyes wide in her face.

"Shizune, you should know that bothering me at this time of day is-"

Before she could finish the girl was shoving the scroll at her, breathless. "It's from them!" she panted, forcing Tsunade to catch the roll of paper before it fell between them to the ground.

"It's from Akatsuki!"

* * *

Silence… that was one thing he could count on in the hospital. There was utter relentless silence. Before, what felt like a long time ago he would have been pleased, even amused by the idea that the hospital felt so peaceful. But the silence no longer made him feel peaceful, it did other things to his mind, twisted it and meddled with it so that the shadows danced.

It was deafening, only the sound of his beating heart and his slow shallow breath made any noise. Surprised by the feeling he realized that he would have even preferred to have Sasu with him, the comfort of the small warm body would have been something…

But that thought was buried rapidly, shoved into a corner so that he didn't have to look at it and ponder the sickening ache that had started to expand in his heart.

He had become aware of it the moment he had woken to find Hinata gone. It was a gaping hole in his chest that made it impossible to ignore it for very long. It was almost, or possibly worse than the feeling that had consumed him the days after his family's destruction.

But back then… he hadn't been able to do anything, now he could. The feeling couldn't be left to devour him like it did before.

Silently the Uchiha avenger slipped out of bed, already dressed and wrapping his bandages around his arms silently, frowning at the light of the moon outside and it's surreal quality.

Everything that most people would ignore his eyes took in with eager interest, examining it and hoping to God it would distract him long enough to keep his body from shaking. The poison had long been taken from his body so he knew that wasn't the reason… though that was the reason why he was kept in the hospital.

No, he knew why he shook.

_If she's dead… if he killed her… I'll… I'll…_

His eyes focused silently on the moon again, grabbing the side of the window before he hauled himself out.

He had no time to ponder such thoughts. He had to pack. After all… his brother was counting on him for his death.

* * *

There was no time to delay, there was no time to hold back. No time to waste, not with the information flowing through his veins.

Hinata… Oh God, the frail gentle Hinata…

Neji slammed his fist into the wall of his room, watching with utter satisfaction as the wall collapsed slightly under the pressure of chakra, and yet still the blood seeped out from under his skin.

There was no time for him to waste. No time at all.

Silently he lifted his hand away from the collapsed wall, ripping a shred off the bottom of his shirt to wrap around the bleeding knuckles dripping his life liquid onto the tiled floor of the waiting room leading to the chamber where the Council awaited him. The servant had gone ahead to tell them that the usually silent little guardian of the heiress was standing outside threatening to slam the servant against the wall if he didn't let him through.

The servant had been clever and proposed a middle ground, scurrying away to tell the Council that he was there before the Hyuuga with freezing eyes could destroy his body.

It wasn't long before the spineless excuse of a man returned, bowing continually, begging for him to enter the council room.

Tempted to spit at his feet with impatience he shoved past him, ignoring the sound of the man stumbling behind him.

He stormed into the council room, his eyes taking in none of the finery that made up the room. Tall spirals of marble holding up the skylight above that shed weak winter light to the middle of the scene. His throat tightened at the thought that just a few weeks ago Hinata herself had stood there in the middle of that spotlight, looking back at the Elders as a pieces of property to be tested… just to make sure she was worth something.

Furious at the thought he stopped, imagining himself standing right where his little cousin would have stood, facing the line of elders with unveiled disgust and impatience.

"You are being very hasty, Neji-sama." One of the older men murmured, his voice rolling off his tongue in slow drones that made the impatience in the young Hyuuga wrestle with his control.

"She might die." He snapped, ignoring the finery of being in the presence of a powerful handful of old bags.

"Hanabi saw it."

Silence reigned, the one woman in the group stared at him, her hand slowly dropping from her chin where she had been resting it.

"…Hanabi saw-" she began, startled, trying to piece together what he was saying. She knew what he meant, but couldn't be sure, because he wasn't supposed to know about that. He wasn't supposed to know that they might be able to see things that had yet to happen.

"How did you-"

"What does it matter?" He snapped, cutting her off and making the whole council bristle in annoyance at his rudeness. But when one of your heirs is in danger of dying you put up with whatever the one likely to bring her back does.

"I guess you are correct, it doesn't matter." The elder whispered slowly, cool Hyuuga eyes closing to think.

"Hanabi saw it? You're certain."

"I wouldn't be here otherwise." He hissed, shifting his weight, shocked slightly by his own rudeness but the feeling of fire in his veins wasn't fading. His thoughts had only drifted to the Uchiha once during the entire ordeal and to his utter shock there had been pity there instead of anger at his failure to protect Hinata.

He pitied him, because he knew only a fraction of the self hate he was probably experiencing.

"What exactly do you suppose we should do?" the elder murmured suddenly, opening her eyes, opening the floor for the young man to state his plan, if he had any. It would have been ill advised for him to barge into the council the way he had and demand that he be listened to if he had no plan with which to remedy the serious poison he had informed them of.

Relieving her fears he frowned, staring at her like he thought her dimwitted to think he wouldn't have a suggestion.

"There is a handful of shinobi on stand by. We're leaving before daybreak." He frowned. "I came to ask that you find a competent group to guard Hanabi-sama."

The silence that welcomed that speech made the elder stare, realizing that he was one of the shinobi readying themselves to leave. That was why he was in such a hurry… he had no time to spare.

"How many are going?" She enquired softly. "I did not think that the Hokage would-"

"She hasn't." Neji put in sharply, recalling Naruto's murderous gaze as he stormed out of the Hokage's office.

"We are deploying without her consent."

One of the elders jumped to his feet, shocked, his aged shivering body shaking with anger. "How dare you! How dare you taint this family with such disobedience-"

"Silence!" the woman elder snapped suddenly before Neji could start a vocal battle with the hot headed elder.

"You have _my _blessing… for all it's worth." The woman muttered, looking at Neji with eyes suddenly blazing with understanding. "I will find a capable team of shinobi to guard Hanabi-sama." She nodded, closing her eyes to think. "…I hope luck is with you all."

Neji started, surprised by the compliance in the older woman's face. "…a-arigato-" he uttered, startled.

The elder smirked, opening her eyes. "Off with you."

Remembering to bow at the last second he turned around, forcing himself to walk out of the room instead of running, ignoring the arguing snaps of the other elders fighting with the Head of the council.

He had other issues to deal with.

* * *

Sakura shoved past a nurse, apologizing quickly. "Gomen! Excuse me!"

"Hey! You're not allowed to-"

The rest of the woman's yells were forgotten as the pink haired med nin slammed her shoulder into Sasuke's door, flinging it open to freeze at the sight of an open window staring out into the darkened night.

And a very empty cold room with only the breeze to whisper by.

"…n-nani…" she began slowly, her green eyes for once not filled with tears or red from crying but worried.

"No!" gasping she ran to the window, looking out, heart raging in her chest.

If he had left without them there would be no telling what kind of nightmare he would face against Akatsuki on his own.

"Naruto!" With that single cry she spun right around, shoving past the crowd of nurses that had gathered at the door to tell her off for being so loud.

She had to find Naruto, they had to find Sasuke before he left.

* * *

Whispers… soft breathless whispers tickled her ears and slid down her back making her shiver in her loneliness.

Hinata swallowed heavily, curling up tighter on the cold ground, focusing on being thankful that they had not hung her up by her wrists anymore, but allowed her to stay on the floor, even if she was in more danger of being prodded at by the filthy rats that scurried around in the darkness.

Sometimes she felt them, touching her skin and toes, interested in biting into her flesh, but a small movement would make them scurry away, their twittering cries making her flinch.

If she fell into a sleep too deep they would surely tear into her flesh and for that fear she remained still, concentrating on using as little chakra as possible without actually sleeping.

It felt like she had not actually slept for weeks.

In the darkness of the cell she knew also that she was no longer alone, a young man stood in the corner, a shinobi with dark eyes and an even darker outfit that made him meld with the shadows. Often times she would forget that he was there, watching. He had taken her blood away to Itachi some days ago, and returned while she dozed.

And he had not left at all.

It didn't occur to her to wonder if maybe he was guarding her, because the idea that she needed guarding was a disgusting one. She couldn't escape and didn't plan on making an attempt any time soon. Shifting so that half her body didn't become steadily numb hurt enough to cause her to pass out sometimes… standing up alone might kill her.

Because she had so much time on her hands she had been able to run a thorough diagnostic on her own body and come to the realization that Orochimaru was indeed a master of torture.

Every nerve meant to immobilize had been bruised, twisted and manipulated so that her limbs throbbed, a single shattered rib on her side had been set back into place but would restrict her moving any time soon, and pressure points around her head and shoulders had been attacked so that moving her head caused migraines strong enough to make the world go black…

She was in no danger of dying, and yet it felt like she was standing on the very brink… ready to fall down and never come back.

Which confused her, it confused her that that shinobi in the shadows had been stationed there, to watch her.

She didn't understand why, and with nothing else to think about she often worked on trying to find out what exactly Itachi was thinking.

It came to her then, a few days, or maybe hours, or maybe even minutes after lying on the cold stone staring into the shadows where she knew the young man was.

He was there as… protection in a way.

This had become obvious when Orochimaru paid a visit, staying out of the cell the moment his eyes noticed the shadow in the corner.

With a smirk and an arrogant toss of his robes he had spun around and left. Hinata had drowned in a wave of relief.

She should have known better than to celebrate so early…

There was no sense of time in the cell, she could only assume to know how long she had sat there, attempting to keep herself alive, so when the dark man in the corner stepped out of it the shadows and towards her she couldn't say if it had been days or minutes since he had been placed there.

Either way his approach made her start awake, shifting despite the nauseating pain it caused.

"No, don't…" she whimpered, drawing back as he crouched down, gloved hands reaching out to touch her.

Wordlessly he shoved her shaking hands away and grabbed her around the waist, hauling her up, not in any particularly rough manner but certainly not gentle.

Flashes of hot searing agony shot through her body as he threw her on his shoulder, her broken rib knocking against the solid mass. Her voice broke the silence, but she didn't struggle, only whimpered.

Heart raging in her ears she tried to think through the pain, clawing through it like water.

Whispers continued in her head, whispers of how maybe Sasuke had been found, of how Itachi might be ready to get rid of her…

_Please…please no… _

Trying to peer through her tears she found herself staring at a confusing image of a rough tub of wood filled with steaming water in a dark room just as dank and ugly as her own cell, though she could see a mess of cloth that looked like a bed in the corner of the room, and there was a tiny depressing window in the corner where bits of flickering white light fell in past solid bars of iron.

The man holding her grunted something in the direction of the shadows and Hinata flinched as she felt rough leather like fingers prod her body as if to make sure she was still alive.

Without warning she was dumped, like a sack of potatoes into the water, the searing touch of the liquid making her cry out, from both the pain of it entering her wounds as well as the impact of her body onto the ground, jarring the broken rib.

Certain that this was a new form of torture she curled up, hiding her face, breathing deeply, ignoring the presence of the shinobi and whoever else was in the room, preparing themselves to destroy her again, now with this burning water…

It ached as it seeped over her skin, ripping into the bleeding infected wounds. She could smell a spice in it too, something that felt familiar but her clogged mind couldn't place.

She was so tired… and the water was warm, something she hadn't felt in such a long time…

A sound like a bird croaking snapped her out of her daze and she looked up to find a strange old being seemingly without gender walking around the side of the tub. It was wrinkled as a raison, and bald, huge eyes eating up most of it's elderly face. Back hunched over and dressed in a sack cloth rag the stooped figure grunted something and reached into the water, pulling out what looked like a bar of rough soap and a rough looking rock.

Hinata stared, dry lips cracked and bleeding from the shock of dryness to hot steam. The being was ugly if there ever was one, reminding her of a sick baby bird.

Roughly, with leathery hands the man or woman, for she couldn't tell, grabbed her by the hair.

Crying out in surprise the Hyuuga heiress jumped, reaching to tear the frail thing away. However, with strength that seemed impossible the old creature shoved her face down into the water.

Before she could even panic she was being dragged back up, her head aching from all the pulling.

Dripping wet from the hot water she sat there, whimpering, feeling more lost and more alien to this twisted nightmare than ever before.

This didn't seem to bother the baby bird as it walked around her, the soap and stone being used back and forth across her body, ripping away the muck that coated her skin and bits of scabbing infected wounds.

The Hyuuga heiress didn't say a word, but stared into the water, sobbing quietly as she was scrubbed from head to toe. She knew now what the water had in it that was so familiar, it was a herb meant to disinfect wounds, she had often used it for her ointments.

She didn't say anything when the bald little creature cut away the rest of her clothes, nor when it pulled out a needle and thread to sow up the crack still open on her head after scrubbing her hair clean.

She didn't say anything, because even though her body was sobbing in relief she knew somehow she would have to pay dearly for the treatment…

Someone wanted something from her again, and the angry creature chained down within her heart was growling to be set loose. She didn't know how much longer she could fight it.

Hate, was a strong being.

* * *

The younger of the Hyuuga princesses was not stupid. Though, through the hardships endured earlier in the year she had been held back from her full potential her father had not lied about her being something out of the ordinary.

A prodigy if there ever was one she could understand complex situations and theories with no problem, and deal with them effectively if taught how.

Neji had never truly been aware of such a fact…

Growling Hanabi lifted herself up, pulling on the rafters of the porch to jump onto the roof, scanning the house again with her byakugan to find her cousin down in the foyer with Tenten in tow, pulling on his pack.

They were almost ready to head out…

Below her in her room was a clone, sleeping soundly. Once she left the estate it would dwindle away, she knew and the elders would no doubt send out a team to attempt to retrieve her but they didn't have the determination she had…

No one did.

Breathing slowly the small girl ran across the roof, listening to the dull _clinks _of her feet against the tiles.

She didn't blame them for refusing to take her, though it hurt like hell to be told she couldn't go. But understanding why didn't make it okay, not when images of her sister so far away kept flashing through her mind, the nightmare she had been waking with ever since she had vanished making her want to throw up.

Young though she was, she knew what kind of torture was likely to be used on a girl such as Hinata.

"Onee-chan…" she whispered, biting her lip as she slipped over the side of the roof and landed comfortably on the porch at the front of the house, just in time to catch sight of Neji and Tenten moving off down the road through the falling snow.

She would have to stay away from them, and if Neji used his Byakugan to scan the area she was probably screwed either way, but for the time being at least she would be all right…

Hopefully she would be able to follow their group far enough away that they couldn't bother to drag her back to the village.

Sighing softly she looked up towards the heavens and the falling snow, remembering a time when her sister had taken her hand and dragged her outside to dance under the falling ice.

"I'll get you back…"

* * *

His hands were shaking as he walked through the house. It felt cold, everything felt like it was covered in a layer of biting ice.

His eyes refused to take in the emptiness though he couldn't deny the fact that it was there, stealing away his oxygen, his breath coming in short gasps as he threw spare shuriken and kunai into his pack, stopping halfway out the door, staring at the serenity of the snow covered street before him, the trees laden with ice.

_A soft voice, she was sleepy from having just woken up, her face cuddling into the crook of his neck, her breath soft against his skin as she looked out the window. _

_"…I think I've changed from having summer be my favorite season." _

_He glanced at her thoughtfully, playing with her fingers, silently enquiring, waiting for her to continue, and she did, knowing he wouldn't have to ask. They communicated in silence. _

_"…I like winter now. It's so beautiful." _

_"Really?" he was surprised, feeling her shiver slightly against him, her body curling up around him on reflex. "Despite the cold?" _

_She pulled back for a moment, turning to look at him completely, a blush covering her cheeks in its crimson tone. _

_"…I like it. It gives me and excuse to mooch the warmth off of you." _

_He loved her so much that it hurt. _

He turned around, heading back up the stairs, the sound of his steps echoing in the utter silence.

He reached his destination in a daze, hardly seeing as he opened the chest at the end of his bed, so used to it being there ignored that no one had ever noticed it before, not even Hinata.

Hands still shaking he pushed the lid up, revealing the black sheath of a smooth water steel katana.

The weapon he had not used since his return.

For a moment the Uchiha stared down at it in silence, heart pounding in his ears, and memory of what that katana had done in his hands flashing through his mind.

_She needs me. _

_I owe her. _

The cold feel of it as his fingers wrapped around the weapon almost made him flinch, but a cold impassiveness had spread over his face.

From now on, there was no emotion.

He had to get Hinata back

The katana was calmly strapped to his back, just in reach and deadly, a cold solid reminder to him of his goal with each step he took.

_I'll use it to get you back, and then destroy it… I promise. _

Steps, quick and decisive forced him to stop, looking silently on into the shadows of the empty living room. His hearing had not dulled from listening to the silence of the hospital. He could hear the half muffled whispers and the gentle tread of shinobi just outside on his front steps.

Frowning he walked forward, flinging the door open with much hesitation, recognizing the half grunt of indignation as Naruto.

Sure enough the door opened to reveal the Rookie Nine, Naruto as expected at the head, shaking his head at Sakura.

"The idiot ran from the hospital he should already be expecting someone at his doorstep." He grunted, then turned to look at what everyone was staring at just in time to allow himself a smirk.

"Like I said."

"What do you want, Naruto?" Sasuke muttered, stepping out and slamming the door closed, a sure signal that no one would be going back in there, including him.

He eyed the others warily, wondering if they were at all determined to keep him in the hospital, but stopped in surprise, noting that instead they were equally weighed down with traveling packs, and training gear.

"What the hell are you talking about? Dattebayo." Naruto grumbled. "We've come pick you up, teme." He sighed, crossing his arms. "Or did you think you'd be going alone?"

"Hn." Sasuke replied, frowning. "I don't need you all slowing me down."

"Why you-" Neji began, moving to step forward. Tenten's hand came down on his shoulder quickly. "Neji-kun…"

"We all care about her…Sasuke-kun." Sakura began slowly, earning nods from Tenten and Ino, Shino and Kiba looked away, hands clenching at their sides. "It's only fair that we be allowed to accompany you."

"And don't kid yourself." Shikamaru muttered, leaning against the wall of his garden, arms crossed. "You aren't going to be able to take on all of Akatsuki on your own."

With a soft growl Akamaru shifted, lifting his huge head to look in the direction of the night sky past the falling snow flakes that dotted it's sheer darkness.

Kiba blinked, ignoring the fact that his dog had interrupted an important conversation. "What is it, Akamaru?"

Little did they know hiding in some nearby trees was the second Hyuuga heiress, pushing herself against the trunk, breath caught in her throat.

_If they catch me now… I'll never be allowed to go… _

"If you all plan on going out and getting slaughtered by something as simple as not paying attention to your surroundings I'll have you all locked up by Anbu." Tsunade's voice snapped, forcing the shinobi to turn sharply to the corner of the garden where the Hokage came out, followed by Shizune shivering in the cold of the winter night.

"Tch." Shikamaru grunted. "We were expecting you."

"I'm sure." Tsunade grumbled, watching with some wariness as they closed ranks, looking about ready to tie her up and leave her gagged if they had to.

"We're going on this mission." Sakura stated, looking at her sensei with respect, but determination. "And I'm sorry if you don't want us to."

Tsunade grunted, looking sideways, hands propped up against her hips. "Tch. You're lucky this came in a few minutes ago otherwise I would have had to have you all arrested for treason."

The others started, watching as Shizune pulled out a scroll from her tunic, showing them the neat dark writing across it's surface.

It was in blood.

"N-nani?" Sakura began, taking a step back as the smell of old blood reached her nose. Kiba flinched, lifting a hand to his face.

"What is that?"

"It came with this." Shizune murmured softly, lifting a hand full of some dark material.

Sasuke froze, feeling his heart jump to his throat at the old drifting smell of lavender and blood touched the air around them.

"…Hinata!" Neji gasped, rushing forward to snatch the scroll, lifting it up to read the words written in blood. "Is… is it her…b-b…" Tenten began, struggling to say the words, her hands up to her face in shock.

"It's her blood." Shikamaru sighed, lowering his gaze to the ground.

"God damn them!" Kiba grunted, his fist connecting sharply with the post beside him, shattering into it.

"What does it say?" Sakura whispered softly, clenching Naruto's arm tightly, looking paler than usual.

Neji didn't look up from scanning the words, hands shaking just barely.

"They…are directions."

Naruto looked up, startled. "Nani?"

"Directions?" Shikamaru grunted, walking over to scan the bloody scratches on the scroll.

"…if that isn't a full out trap…" Shino grunted, sounding irritable. "They're leading us exactly where they want us."

"But they don't know a few things." Shikamaru muttered. "Like how many are going…" he looked up, staring directly at Sasuke. "And they left you for dead."

The Uchiha looked back at him calmly, trying to ignore the nauseating smell of blood in the air.

"Well, it looks like you're all well on your way." Tsunade muttered, turning around to leave, before stopping abruptly and turning around.

"You." she added, looking at Sasuke with bright blue eyes. "You had better come back. _With…_or god help you, without Hinata." For a moment chakra seemed to swirl around her, daring him to contradict. "Or I'll find you myself."

Sasuke didn't reply, but looked calmly back, trying to ignore the laughing voice in the back of his head.

_You don't understand. If she's out of my reach, I'm dead already. _

Wordlessly she turned around, waving quickly over her shoulder. "Come back alive, runts."

And just like that, she was gone jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the Hokage's office, Shizune in tow.

Sakura sighed, watching Neji roll up the scroll carefully, tucking it away into his pockets.

"We'd better go then, we'll come up with a strategy on the way." He glanced at Shikamaru who nodded.

"How far is it?"

"Three days."

Naruto smirked, taking a deep breath. "All right then…" he muttered, glancing over at Sasuke, flashing him his over positive smile. "Let's get a move on then."

Sasuke nodded, one slow movement down.

Time to run.

Somewhere within the shadows of a nearby tree Hanabi lifted a hand up to her mouth, containing the soft sobs that were aching to escape her grasp at the sight of the blood smeared scroll.

_We're coming, Onee-chan… hold on. _

* * *

The bath had cooled severely, leaving her shivering slightly. The bird-like servant of earlier had left her to soak there after ripping a coat of dead skin and muck from her body, grumbling in some odd tongue she did not understand.

Clothes had been set out for her, things that looked to be from other nations, used already from the smell of humanity to them, but clean enough and whole, without tears or holes.

Shivering forcefully she began to stand, feeling the cold in her bones and muscles, the bruises aching with each step, but it hurt less than before, the herbs in the water had done their job and she was feeling better.

And her thirst had been quenched. Despite the disgusting condition of the water she had snatched at it, drinking it despite the gag reflex her body had forced upon her.

She had no choice… it was that or die.

Shivering forcefully she scrambled out of the tub, holding on to the side as she grabbed the clothing and still dripping wet slipped them over her head, ignoring the sticky sensation of the cloth snapping to her skin.

Sniffing softly in an attempt not to cry as she pulled on each item she froze, half way through buttoning up the shirt. The sound of the door opening forced her to turn slowly, looking past locks of soaked hair at the figure that stood in the doorframe.

It wasn't the bird…

Shivering forcefully she turned, dropping her hands uselessly to her sides, eyes flashing.

"…Itachi."

* * *

**Oh dear GOD, it's DONE**

**I hate, hate hate this chapter with an utter passion, you all have NO idea. **

**It's SO crappy. **

**Please forgive me… **

**Better chapters coming up. I'm off my meds now! (hurrah!) **

**The effects will wear off by tomorrow night! I'll be working well then **

**Leave me some love, ne? **

**-ink **


	4. Chp 3: Afraid of You

**_Hello everyone, _**

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**_So, I realize now that this story is going to be a lot shorter than Stronger, so far I've about three more chapters to go, I believe, and then the End. _**

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**_It is a lot more difficult to write because it's not as much character development, but a struggle, and it being that I'm one of those people who love to develop people it has been a challenge. However, I am enjoying it very much, I hope you all are too. _**

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**_I'm off my medication now, so my concentration has 'finally' come back, I actually know what I'm doing. Literally it felt like a spell was taken off in the middle of the night and I could suddenly just 'think'. I wrote out the entire plotline, just for my sake, lol. _**

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**_Please, read and review, leave me some love, ne? _**

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* * *

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Her body was shaking, nerves tingling with nerve wrecking sensations, a pain in her chest tightening to constrict her breathing.

Breathlessly she stepped back, feeling her heel knock against the tub's side, involuntarily flinching on reflex.

"Itachi…" she breathed, hands sliding up to her half buttoned shirt, tightening her fingers around the edges to keep it closed, ignoring the feel of her hate struggling to break it's chains, Oka-sans's voice whispering furiously in her ear.

_"Let me go."_

"Hyuuga-hime." Itachi replied quietly, dark eyes peering over the edge of the high neck of his cloak, dead and empty as always

However the disgusting tingle sliding down her back made her think otherwise. Her shinobi intuiton stated that even if he was being impassive he had to be feeling something.

Surprisingly he suddenly made no move to veil the emotion, stepping into the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

"I understand you have been treated for most of your injuries." He commented languidly, turning to look at her again once the door closed.

_Hate tossed against the chains, blood red pollen dancing in the breeze that threw back her mane of black hair. "What the fuck do you want, you useless monstrous rot!? Let me out, Hinata! Let me OUT!" _

Breathing deeply to control herself Hinata nodded slowly, a simple movement up and down.

"What do you want?"

Itachi replied in silence, letting his hands hand loosely at his sides for a moment, watching with some satisfaction as she fidgeted, leaning back against the tub again.

"To talk."

"Genjutsu's power fades in comparison to my reality when it comes to torture." Hinata replied softly, ignoring Hate's voice in her mind screaming how full of shit he was.

"I will not be using Genjustsu, or Mangekyo," Itachi replied, sounding almost amused.

"I am intrigued, is all."

_"Go fucking kill yourself!" _

"What are you talking about?' her voice shook, but thankfully to her ears it sounded furious, a being on the edge of loosing control.

Itachi smirked, making her flinch as an image of Sasuke flashed through her mind's eye.

_Sasuke… where are you? _

"Why?" His voice slithered out, making her look up sharply at the flicker of movement.

With a gasp the Hyuuga heiress leaned back sharply, hands scrambling to grab onto the edge of the tub to keep herself from falling in, staring back at Itachi's pale face furiously.

"Get away from me!"

"Ah." He smirked, a hand coming to rest on her cheek gently. "Perhaps that is why… perhaps that is the reason why he is so consumed by you."

His skin felt cold, clammy. Once, a long time ago Team 8 had been assigned a rescue mission in the Hidden Village of Mist. A dead man had been found in the river's grip…

His hands felt the same…

"Don't!" with a gasp she stopped struggling, his grip on her wrist ready to snap it in have, stopping her strike in a grip of iron.

"Remember, little Hime." He murmured his breath humid as it whispered over her face.

"I am in control."

Dead eyes stared into hers, forcing a shiver down her back.

"Don't make me leave you in Orochimaru's care."

Tears sprung to her eyes at those words, a shiver making her whole body shake against him. Softly his eyes flashed, something like half formed life flickering in and out of existence too fast for her to be sure if she had seen it at all.

Sighing he let go, stepping back calmly.

"Clearly you're in not state to converse. I will return when it better suits you." he added breathily, as if speaking of a simple date.

But as the door slammed closed she felt her legs give way and her knees hit the floor, breath coming in short painful gasps. She allowed herself to curl up, tears spilling down her face, making scratches on her cheeks sting.

_Sasuke…Neji…Naruto…someone…save me. _

* * *

_"Oka-san?" His voice shook, he turned, again and again, a circle that never ended, there was always new blood on the walls. _

_His eyes took in each image, the way that it was familiar to him somehow. He had hurt himself when he was three there, he had caught his first frog there, he had sat and drunk tea with his aunt there… and he had waited, every single day, for years, right there, for his brother to come home and help him… _

_His brother. _

_Running, sprinting through the empty streets, the screams were echoing, he could hear them but somehow it didn't feel right. The blood was there already so then why did he hear them? _

_He didn't realize that the tears were drowning his face, sticky with the salty liquid, he was covered in vomit and blood too, though none of the blood was his. _

_It was warm and sticky too, making his hands ache, they were coated in it. _

_A voice was screaming, my God, they were loud, a shrill shrieking wail that made him want to reach up and cover his ears. It was the same thing, over and over again. _

_"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Don't KILL ME!!" _

_Scrambling, the ground reaching up to trip him, he fell, flat on his face, pounding the ground as if it were his mortal enemy, trying to piece together the images in his mind. Onii-san… Onii-san had… was…NO, that couldn't be… blood, there was so much blood and Oka-san… Otou-san… _

_"No! No!!" the ground continued to reach for him, strapping him down, arms and fingers and biting little mouths coming out of the very sand, chaining him as steps slow and graceful headed towards him. _

_He struggled and squirmed like a worm, but there was no use in such a movement, when a bird has you… they have you. _

_Red eyes, shadows, his brother's voice, but God, it couldn't be him? Could it…? _

_"No! No, Onii-san would never-" _

_"Live…hate me…" whispers that cut through his screams, and he realized suddenly the only person left to scream was him. He had been the one shrieking. _

_Sharingan continued to rotate in front of him, so huge and looming there was nothing else to see, just the pattern of the spinning gaze and the images of blood spraying a mist in the air that choked him and tasted of metal. _

_Bodies falling, left and right with faces so familiar it hurt, and his brother's voice, continuous and never ending. "Live… hate… live… hate…" _

_His small body curled up, sobbing so hard his heart felt like it would slip out of his chest, the throbbing making his hands clench over his skin to get it to stop. _

_Just bloody fucking STOP already- _

_With a sickening feeling of falling he screamed, the skies so wide and consuming as he plummeted from some place above the earth, the stars twinkling as he fell, long and fast, the slithering forms of snakes turning and squirming below making his stomach clench forcefully, a feeling of disgust making him struggle in the air. _

_"No! Not him!" _

_Dark eyes, a curved smiling mouth that was more frightening even than the silent expression of his brother's own face. _

_Snakes caught him, their slimy scales twining around him, hissing soft words like lovers into his ears, their tongues licking out and tickling his face. _

_"Kill." Orochimaru's hands slid out, touching him with the sickening sensuality of a monstrous mind. Sasuke flinched, drawing back, struggling to pull away. _

_In his other hand Orochimaru held his katana, the black beauty of a sword sliding towards his own hands. _

_"Kill." _

_The snakes vanished, and he fell hard onto the solid ground of dirt and crusted blood, the smell so powerful he almost passed out, struggling to stand, looking up to find rows and rows of children. _

_They stared at him with wide tear filled eyes, shaking, defenseless. _

_"Kill." Echoes of Orochimaru's voice resonated throughout the world, his hands moved, his feet moved even though he didn't want to, a scream caught in his throat as he watched his katana slice one of the children in half, the scream followed by others. _

_Small voices, whimpering cries begging mercy, but his blade continued to bite, thirsty for blood, the children didn't move but sobbed in place, waiting patiently for him to slash through them, their blood spraying up, covering his face, lifeless eyes staring at him from fallen bodies. _

_He was screaming, but no one seemed to hear his words, the fact that he was begging them to run, begging them to help him escape the hellish nightmare. _

_The line of children suddenly stopped and his eyes seemed to fill with something, everything was hazy… for his heart seemed to have stopped. _

_It took him a moment to realize he was crying. _

_For standing with two children at her sides was Hinata, silent, looking at him with eyes so wide and full of disgust and shock that he couldn't miss it. No matter where he looked he would always see the expression there. _

_The loathing. _

_His feet moved and with a start he struggled, trying to pull back, trying to tell her to run, to kill him, anything… _

_But she didn't, the beauty that held his heart pulled the children close to her, arms tightening around them, turning their faces away, her gaze focused on his, damning him to an eternal hell with those eyes… _

_And his blade bit into flesh, blood sprayed…tinted with a lavender scent. _

"Sasuke!"

With a gasp he sat up, kunai flashing in the direction of the voice. Naruto parried the blow sharply with a kunai of his own, silently staring at his friend, soaked over in sweat, sharingan rotating sharply, lit by the flickering flames of the fire.

Almost everyone else was sleeping, except for Sakura on the other side of the clearing, looking in their direction worriedly over the fire, her gaze traveling over the darkened forest they were using as their camp ground.

"Shit." Sasuke hissed, dropping the kunai like a hot coal, hands reaching to wipe the sweat from his face.

"You… were shaking." Naruto began slowly, hesitating to put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?'

"Fine." Sasuke snapped, shuddering in the sudden cold of the night. The winter snow hadn't been able to fall down onto the forest ground, blocked by the canopy of trees above, but the chill of winter still flowed, meddling with his sweat soaked body.

"…were you dreaming?' Sakura enquired suddenly, coming up beside them, crouching by his side.

Sasuke's gaze shifted to the ground. "I'm fine." He replied instead, hoping they would leave and be done with it. The last thing he needed was to have a heart to heart with the two meddling fools…

…the two meddling fools that ultimately saved his life.

"Oh shit." He sighed again, burying his face into his hands, breathing deeply in an attempt to keep calm, flickering images of Hinata's face and the blood that sprayed making his stomach clench and unclench uncomfortably. If he hadn't been so well trained he would have already thrown up.

"Heh." Naruto stated suddenly, pulling down his sleeve to reveal a slash of blood across his forearm. "Half asleep and you still managed to get me."

"Here." Sakura sighed, crouching down beside the blonde, fingers glowing softly in a green light.

Sasuke watched in silence, letting out a breath, the residue flickers of chakra from the med nin seeming to calm his raging heart.

Sakura's green eyes slid sideways towards him, watching his eyes intent on her work as the wound stitched itself back together and healed.

"…You know…" she began slowly, after patting Naruto's arm as a sign of being finished. "Hinata…will probably be in bad condition when we get her back." She mumbled, shoving a lock of pink hair from her face.

Naruto, to Sasuke's shock, stood up without a word and moved away, signaling that the two had already spoken about whatever Sakura was telling him at the moment.

"I'm aware of that." Sasuke grunted, shoving himself out of his blankets, shaking out his sweat soaked hair roughly.

Sakura nodded, reaching over to prod the fire with a stick.

"…I could use help, healing the minor wounds, and overall you have pretty good chakra control." She shrugged. "I might be able to teach you how to heal minor wounds, if you want."

"What?" Sasuke grunted, turning to look at her with a frown. Abruptly the med nin pulled out a kunai, flicking it sharply over her wrist so that the blood flowed.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke started, attempting to sound calm, but the blood made him sick, the need to vomit coming back again.

"Here." Sakura replied calmly, more calm with him than he ever recalled her being. She had always been a little fidgety, or overzealous with her invasion of his personal space. Never calm… though once he had seen half calm fury, a long time ago when she and Naruto had attempted to drag him back.

"You mold the chakra in your hands." She instructed, ignoring the look of indignation he shot her.

Calmly she lifted her hand to him, the blood dripping over the side of her smooth skin. "It should seep out of your fingers, you won't be able to heal things much bigger than this, but it will stop the bleeding."

Sasuke stared at her, refusing to move his hands.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Sakura glanced up at him, surprised, blinking at him as if she didn't know what he meant. "I'm trying to teach you something other than killing, Sasuke-kun."

Without another word he began to mold the chakra.

* * *

It was cold…. Disturbingly cold, there wasn't anything she could think of that would keep the cold away. She couldn't use chakra, it would draw the other's attention towards her and anyway, she needed the energy to continue when they got up to go.

They moved faster than she had expected and had left her behind a few times. She had been forced to use her Byakugan to follow, glad for her blood limit for once in her life.

Neji had used his Byakugan as well, she had sensed it but for some reason he was concentrating on the front, the way they were heading towards.

Shikamaru did not expect the enemy to hunt them down from behind. They were being led in, they wanted to be found.

She was safe, for the most part.

The trouble was sleeping. If she fell asleep and they left it would take days to catch up, their speed was shocking and she was tired. Not to mention falling asleep in the middle of a forest during winter was not the best idea. Hinata had told her what the cold could do to a frail heart.

It could freeze it and never let it beat again.

Sleep was not an option then… not for a while.

Sighing heavily Hanabi watched them, Byakugan studying the odd patterns in Sasuke's chakra and the way he began to use it for something that made no sense.

"Healing?" puzzled she rested her head on her arms, curled up in the roots of a great big oak tree kind enough to give her shelter from the wind and snow.

Perhaps Sasuke-san wasn't as scary as she had first thought.

* * *

The door opened, only to spill more ink like darkness into the room, covering her in a blanket of cold dank air.

Slowly she looked up, staring at the shoes of another master of torture, a monster, a destruction force to be reckoned with and worst of all, the reason a pain in her chest refused to go away, the voice in her head screaming bitter curses at the monstrous being.

_"The fucking hell with you, bastard! Leave! Leave me alone! Hinata, let. _ _Me.__ Fucking. GO!" _

Breathing softly, curling into herself again, trembling just a bit as he closed the door behind himself, letting out a breath similar to the way Otou-san had, long ago while trying to be patient.

_"Disgusting excuse for a living being…" _

"Get up."

Hinata flinched, turning her face to the ground, staring at the little grains of dirt that were so close to her face, pressing against her arms and back and legs.

"What do you want?"

"Get up."

He wasn't being impatient, he wasn't being calm. It was that dark middle ground of dead feelings that forced her to realize this was no longer a game. This was why she had been bathed and cared for. He had come for the payment.

Shuddering she began slowly to push herself up, arms shaking as she strained to stand, wrapping one arm around her ribs, refusing to wince in pain despite the motion.

"I assume you're in a better mood and might speak this time?"

Breathing heavily to contain the cries of pain Hinata looked up slowly, turning her head to clear the curtain of dark hair from her face.

"What do you want, Itachi?" without meaning to his name had slipped into her sentence, leaving a taste as bitter as blood in her mouth. The monster before her did not react, arms hanging loosely as ever at his sides.

"To talk, as I explained before."

Instinctively she reached up to touch her forehead, closing her eyes as if praying to some God above for patience. Hate's screams echoed in her head, the desire to shove forward and use the last remnant of her chakra to destroy him was overpowering.

But not strong enough for her yet…

"My brother…" Itachi began slowly, dark eyes focused on her face and every line of emotion written there, though she was obviously trying to contain some of it.

"His life purpose was decided long ago."

"By you?" the force of Hate's power sprung forth, forcing her to spit out the words in a snarl that startled some part of her. Still she didn't withdraw, looking up at him through the locks of ink black hair that fell across her face. Murder was written on her face, and glowing in the softly tinted lavender eyes.

For a moment Itachi's mouth twitched in amusement, though his eyes looked as dead as always.

"Yes. It seems however, that you wish to redefine that fate yourself."

The Hyuuga leaned back slightly, letting out a sigh of wariness as she used the tub behind her as support, straining to stand for so long was taking it's toll. Obviously that's why he had asked her to.

He didn't even have to touch her and it was torture.

"What are you talking about?"

"He is supposed to attempt to destroy me."

Slowly Hinata looked up again, frowning, studying in surprise the impassive expression on his face. Had that truly been anger she had heard in his voice, hardly there. Subtle frustration…

"…do you really want to die that badly?" her voice shook, confusion marring her features. Was this creature really so confused? He wanted his own brother to kill him?

_Perhaps to end his own misery? No… I don't understand. _

"What I want is beside the point." Itachi replied simply, taking a step closer thoughtfully. "You've managed to distract him from his goal."

"..d-distract him…nani-" with a gasp her arms jumped up to grab his own wrist, his fist wrapped tightly around her throat, lifting her up silently. Body swinging awkwardly off the ground she struggled, the pain of her broken rib and the pressure on her neck driving throbs up to her head.

"Did you love him the moment that you met him?" he whispered, leaning in close, sharingan rotating slowly in front of her, the reflection of her own strained face there for her own eyes to see in the red orbs.

His other hand reached out, taking her right hand away from his wrist, studying the fingers there and the ring wrapped around one.

"…did you love him from the start?"

His hand released her, making her smack her side sharply against the tub, pain shot up her side as she crumbled onto the ground. With a gasping sob she curled up, hugging her body tightly, ignoring the tears dripping down her face.

"Answer."

_"Don't you fucking answer, Hinata! Bastard! Stupid worthless BASTARD!" _

Her body heaved, blood tainting her lips. Slowly she cracked open her eyes forcefully, fury making the lavender orbs shine as she stared up at him, the tower of darkness that was the monster in control of her life glowed only in one place: the two red orbs of rotating power near his head.

Cursing his blood limit she turned away, straining to breath.

"Answer." Forcefully he kicked, sending her slamming into the side of the tub, the cold water splashed out, drenching her in a shower of disgusting liquid, making her cough loudly in an attempt to breath, fear for her life beginning to gnaw at her insides.

_He'll kill me... he'll kill me if I don't answer… _

"No…" she whispered, turning onto her side, sobbing softly, so quietly it didn't even sound like a sob.

"…I was…I was afraid… of him…"

Itachi's head cocked just slightly to the side, Sharingan rotating thoughtfully. "Afraid, hm?"

Darkness slid at the corners of her vision, eating away at the image of his glowing gaze.

A smirk grazed his lips, so much like Sasuke's making her heart ache with each beat. Slowly he crouched down beside her, red eyes glittering with thought. She wasn't sure… but perhaps there was life there.

The feel of his touch on her cheek made her start, her slowly succumbing mind startled by the sensation of his cold skin.

"…do you fear me as well…?"

But the darkness seemed to have won.

* * *

**_Ultra rough copy of this chapter. I haven't even read it over once. This is as raw as I ever write. _**

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**_Please be gentle, I'm attempting to keep going as well as I can, as quick as I can so I don't forget the information that I've figured out. The next chapter is coming soon too. I will edit this later and make the Itachi/Hinata interactions better. _**

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**_They're very very rough. I will repost this when it's properly written. _**

**_Leave me some love, ne! _**

**_-ink _**

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	5. Chp 4: Dusk Brings Blood

His breathing was loud, so loud he thought perhaps he would be found amongst the silence of his own team mates. None of them were making any noise. He was almost certain that at any moment one or all of them would turn to look at him and demand that he simply stop breathing…

But it wasn't true; he knew it from having trained so long and so hard. The silence of their movement and the silence of the forest made his heightened senses note every mistake he made, including the rapid seemingly chaotic sound of his whispering gasps.

Still, with each step against a tree branch to shove him further into the darkness that was their path he had to wonder if perhaps the whole world didn't know his exact location. He had to ponder if perhaps his brother wasn't watching in the shadows already, waiting impatiently for his chance to destroy him…

Paranoia won out, the internal battle he had been having forcing him to glance backwards, into the shadows of the rapidly passing greenery. The feeling of being watched hadn't left him.

Lee, running just behind the Uchiha Avenger glanced at him thoughtfully, blinking.

"Are you all right, Sasuke-san?'

The break in silence felt huge, as if Lee had screamed rather than calmly asked a question. Immediately the other's turned to look at him, all eyes straining to catch what was bothering the Uchiha.

"What is it?" Naruto grunted, slowing his pace only slightly as they dodged the rapidly passing arms of forest trees.

Sasuke shook his head, erasing forcefully the frown that marred his features. "Nothing." He grunted softly, glancing over at Neji for half a second curiously, wondering the Hyuuga was in fact using his Byakugan at all. He hadn't seen him scan the area, but then again, Shikamaru had stated how doubtful he was that Akatsuki would attack them on their way to their location.

It was an invitation they had been given, after all. What was the point of inviting guests unless you had something special waiting for them at the end. Killing them off halfway there was not their style.

And as sickening as that conclusion was, Sasuke had agreed with it. It was true, Akatsuki and his brother were disgusting in that sense.

However, the sensation of being watched refused to leave, a tingling feeling making the hair on the back of his neck rise on end. Lesson after lesson he had drilled into Hinata's head about listening to your instincts echoed in his own head.

Ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from Ino and the other's who ran a little ways behind him he glanced back again, clenching his jaw in frustration.

Something was out there… he was sure of it.

_I'll find it. _

* * *

She heard her breathing first, a gasping sob like sound so weak it made her flinch at herself. Her father would be ashamed of her, succumbing to the physical strain. However it didn't seem to matter that she was mentally bruising her own pride, her body refused to cooperate. 

The sound continued, animalistic at best, echoes of an agonizing sensation that lifted and dropped with each of her gasping breaths.

_Oka-san… it hurts…_

The darkness sparkled with reds and browns like wet and dry blood, her eyes fluttered in an attempt to open. The image of the blood was nauseating. She had seen so much of it, smelled it for so long…

"Oh…" A sickening slimy voice whispered, forcing her to freeze.

"…the beauty wakes."

Hate was quick to wake indeed, slamming her body against the restraining chains, eyes wild, hair dancing in her mind's eye with her anger.

_"Bastard!!" _

Hinata however ignored the sensation, knowing it to be useless, whimpering softly she stared at the ground, straining to push herself up onto her forearm. The feel of the wooden tub against her back was comforting in a strange way. At least she knew he did not stand behind her where she could not look.

Orochimaru had returned.

Her thoughts ran, spinning in circles like a child's toy. Itachi had left, had he been so disappointed with her answer to his question that he had sent Orochimaru as her punishment?

Somehow that didn't seem unlikely.

Whimpering again in self pity she shifted, straining to sit up, so she could face him. There was no sense to what she was doing. A logical sarcastic part of her mind laughed, disgusted with her attempts to face the darkness.

She didn't know why she tried anymore. Pride? Hope? Neither of those things meant anything with that monster's tongue in her mouth.

As if thought were the only thing needed to summon the creature she felt the stuffy air of the room shift, a smell of aged perfume and decaying bodies wafting towards her nose to strangle her.

It was strong enough a smell to make her gag softly, turning away at the feel of his robes tickling her bare knee. The cloth was smooth as silk, but wet… clammy.

Everything about him was so disgusting…

"Tell me, my dear." He whispered softly, taking her chin in one rough hand, forcing her to look up, neck straining, her broken rib sending fire over her body.

"I hear a rumor that the blood limit of the powerful Clan of Hyuuga has reached a considerable peak." His lips pulled into a thin smile, snake eyes glittering with obviously lustful intent.

Hinata stared, unaware of how fast her breathing was getting, each gasping breath right after the other, eyes wide like a frightened foal.

_Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me… don't TOUCH ME! _

His hand tightened around her chin, making her flinch away, a small squeak of pain escaping her lips.

"Answer me."

Answers… answers, always answers. She didn't know anything, didn't they know that? She was just herself, she was just Hinata, simple, ugly, useless Hinata.

_"God damn it all to hell!" Hate's screams filled her head. The girl's body would be sore from straining, there was blood dripping down the sides of her forearms as the bonds that held her dug deep into her pale skin. Her screams echoed, rough and raw and dangerous, surely her vocal chords would snap. _

_"Coward! You're a coward! Let me get out! Let me destroy them! Coward!" _

"Oh no you don't." His voice slipped through her steadily dazed gaze, making her mind strain as it reached that haven within her that would oppose all questions and all torture.

Roughly he stood up, hand wrapped tightly around her neck, dragging her off her feet again. Surely her neck would snap… she'd be released, finally from the living hell…

With a scream that might have released some of her pain had it not been muffled by his mouth she was thrown against the wall, his body pinning her there, an all too familiar state…

Snakes, hissing slippery slimy things that twisted around her arms and legs held her crucified to the dank wall, a piece of meat of the monster before her to feed on.

"No!" her voice was breaking, sobs starting again. Everything was so surreal, so unearthly. It couldn't be happening… not again…_Please not again… _

His tongue slid across her face, choking her, vomit rising in her mouth at the sensations, her body straining to heave, rejecting everything he had to offer so forcefully it hurt.

"I hear that white eyes see the future…" he crooned, breathless as excitement coursed through him. The feel of her body, real and young and delicious against him making even his hard won control strain.

Hinata froze, eyes staring into the darkness and seeing nothing, her breathing a wavering shaking sensation in her lungs.

_How…how does he know…? _

"Ah…" Orochimaru whispered softly against her ear, hand shoving hard against her stomach as he reached into her clothing, unsatisfied by the little show of flesh.

"…you see the future, do you?"

Her head was shaking before she could think of how to reply, straining against his mouth which clamped grossly over hers, tongue gagging her as the tears poured.

Violation… her body, once her sanctuary… once her prized most private possession was being taken away, and she could not escape it.

"Once upon a time, red eyes were my fetish…" He whispered, licking her sore, bruised lips, ignoring her twisting body, like a worm against his grip.

"Perhaps I would prefer white now."

Hinata did not know what to think, or what to feel, or what he meant… it didn't matter anymore.

Nothing mattered anymore…

* * *

_"…Onee-chan?" _

_Shadows stretched above her, tall monstrous creatures with burning eyes of many colors loomed, staring at the small form of her body. She looked so much younger than she felt, and felt so much younger than she looked… _

_That made no sense… _

_"Onee-chan?" _

_The shadows shifted, tall, fat, short, thin. Whispers of names and voices each belonging to one that she didn't know… she didn't know any, she didn't know any of these beings. _

_The spinning continued, darting creatures that seemed to be made of ink and stone dashing from one side to the other, forcing her to sob, her hands reaching up to block the image only to find the same darkness behind her closed gaze. _

_"No, no!" _

_It stopped. Like a sudden frozen heart. _

_Silence, stretching out in deafening hues of stillness. Slowly her hands drifted down, away from her clamped gaze. _

_"…nani?" _

_It was a room, made of ugly stone covered in slime, the blood had crusted on the floor, the chains against the wall were dangling, empty of a prisoner, though the blood that dripped from them stated once upon a time there had been one there to suffer. _

_"Nani?" _

_"Hello, Hanabi." _

_She spun, falling against the ground and flinching at the feeling of blood and bile that didn't belong to her staining her hands. _

_Gasping she scrambled to her feet, looking at the door, the light that poured from the hallway casting a long deadly shadow across the ground. _

_Her breath caught in her throat as lavender eyes met lavender. _

_"Onee-chan!" _

_Two steps, that's all it took. _

_Blood. _

_A splash, upwards and to the right. Her mind knew what it was called, what style of sword had been used, what kind of stroke it was, and how it was fatal. There would be no getting up again, not after that. _

_She now also knew how much it hurt. _

_Her feet stumbled, and she fell into the arms, familiar arms with a familiar smell, a curtain of dark hair falling to surround her. _

_Familiar… familiar, familiar. _

_Oh dear sister… _

_Her words were muffled against the clothing that smelled of good food and lavender flowers, mixed with the metallic scent of her own blood. _

_"…Why? Onee-chan…why?" _

_Her gaze lifted and the lavender met a different gaze…Cold as ice, hot as hell. _

_Hinata's lips moved, her voice said but her soul was gone. _

_"Because I can." _

With a scream she could not muffle she sat up, throwing her arms out, regretting it immediately. The force of her elbow slamming into her pack sent shockwaves of pain shooting up her shoulder and neck, drawing a pain filled gasp from her lips. She had pierced herself with something in her bag, a kunai no doubt, drawing pain from it's own wielder.

Hanabi shifted, looking down at herself to find blood, blood that was smeared and fresh across her body.

The next scream she could not hold back.

The dark woods echoed and she didn't know what to do, there wasn't anything to do. Her sister! Her dear sister!

She didn't know she was screaming still, twisting in her blankets to get loose, straining to free herself from it's grip, sobs tearing her throat.

She didn't feel as arms pulled her into their grip and soothing words were whispered in her ear.

A part of her was startled, watching as if it were happening to someone else, knowing she had fallen asleep when she shouldn't have.

How weak the next Hyuuga in line for the Clan Head had become…

* * *

"How does it work?"

Hinata gagged, spitting out mouthfuls of bile and blood. He had bitten her tongue, the pain was drilling literally _in _her head, making her gaze hard to focus on the darkness of the ground and the odd sickening room in which she was being tortured.

"How does it work?" He shouted, the sound echoing in her head like a pin dropped in still water.

She flinched, scrambling to stand, to control herself. How did he expect her to answer with vomit in her mouth?

"I…I don't know…" she whispered, breathing hard, holding her arm around her torso, her face pale as death, except for the trickles of bright red blood staining her lips.

"I am amazed." He sighed, walking around and around her quivering form. She could hardly stand; her legs were shaking beneath her, bruises splashed across the ivory skin in green, blue and purple.

"Your determination is astounding." Sarcasm, every single word dripped with it, making her flinch in predetermined agony.

As expected a blow blind sided her across the face, sending her crashing onto the floor.

For a moment she allowed herself to lie there, staring up at the ceiling, ignoring the throbbing of her head having connected with the solid stone.

Orochimaru smirked, walking around her slowly, watching her chest rising and falling in tediously quick gasps.

"You know…" he whispered suddenly straddling her waist, drawing a horrified whimper from her mouth as he slid up from her stomach to her neck, slimy disgusting tongue coating her skin in saliva.

"…I'm beginning to loose interest in the Uchiha's oh so clever blood line. Their troublesome aptitude for disaster makes them less awe inspiring." He whispered, biting her earlobe and making the girl before him gasp, turning her head away in a futile attempt to get away.

"Perhaps I'll take you instead. What do you think?"

Hinata dragged in a ragged breath, staring blindly at the rafters, ignoring the rhetorical question.

_This can't be happening… this can't be happening… please… please please please…_

She was going to die, that was what he was telling her. But not only die… she was going to… she was going to…

Images of the death and destruction her hands would create, the pain she would inflict, the nightmares she would plant inside people, thousands of people.

And the utter staggering horror that her family would endure the pain of hunting one of their own. The only weakened chain link, enough that the Byakugan was taken from her hands…

The door opened.

De ja vu.

She could feel nothing more, just the breeze of the door and the silence the came over the room.

Sometime ago Orochimaru had climbed off of her. The sound and feel and smell of him was gone, but her mind did not register it.

She was going to die, she was going to live inside of him, or him inside of her… she couldn't understand.

_I can't. I can't.Can'tcan'tcan'tcan't. _

A sound like the explosion of the doors of hell snapped her sharply out of her dazed senses, adrenaline pumping so fast she didn't feel the pain of her bruised and broken body as she shoved herself up, stumbling against the opposite wall to stare at the sight of Orochimaru pinned, the way she had been, by none other than Itachi.

"Are you considering breaching the agreement?" Itachi's calm voice enquired, sifting through the sound of falling stones. Orochimaru's body was about an inch into the wall, shattered rock fell from all over it's once half smooth surface.

Hinata quivered, arms wrapped around herself, buttoning up her undone blouse, the motions only comforting in their familiarity.

"The agreement is so one sided you can hardly blame me." Orochimaru grunted back, obvious irritation blooming over his sickening pale face.

"Breach of it might ensure your much awaited death." Itachi replied, as if speaking of the weather, though his hands were the ones holding the demonic snake against the wall and his chakra that had shattered him into the stone.

"The girl would make a far better candidate than your troublesome brother, Uchiha."

With a burst of chakra the blabbering snake was shoved deeper into the solid stone, forcing a grunt of discomfort from the purplish lips.

"She is not part of the agreement." Itachi explained, as if speaking to a child. Abruptly he stepped back, letting Orochimaru fall quite elegantly to his feet.

"Too many wish your death, it would be best if you refrained from putting yourself in unnecessary danger with any of Akatsuki for the next few days." Itachi continued, talking calm enough that Hinata's shaking stopped, her confused battered mind unsure of just how dangerous the situation was.

"You are still a necessary asset for the plan, however…" He opened the door, the obvious gesture forcing Orochimaru to clench his jaw. "…we can make due without you, if we must."

Grunting the snake stepped out, glancing calmly over his shoulder at the dark eyed Uchiha.

"…is it truly all for the plan, Uchiha Itachi, that you protect that luscious little princess?" his eyes glittered with jealous interest. "Or perhaps have you finally found an interesting enough toy for your whims?"

Itachi's lips turned upwards in a sarcastic smirk. "What does it matter?"

Without another word he slammed the door closed.

The silence that consumed was thick, the sensation of pain suddenly returned and slowly Hinata slid down to the ground, ignoring the scrapes the wall inflicted on her sore back.

"…kill me." The words slipped softly from her mouth, her eyes focused blankly on the opposite wall, the cracks letting more debris crash against the ground.

"…just kill me…"

Itachi blinked slowly, patiently walking towards her crumbled slouched form.

"That is no longer your choice to make."

"…I'm begging." She stated it as if confused, puzzled that she would dare beg someone like Itachi for something, and worse, something like death.

She had no right to ask for death… and yet the idea of being taken over by a someone like Orochimaru…

"You are begging indeed." His voice, usually monotone seemed to lilt slightly in amusement and smoothly with the grace and elegance of his clan he crouched down to her level, forcing her eyes to focus on him.

"Please."

There was a sound in the back of her head, a logical voice that was telling her to shut up, and a hateful angry voice that was screaming of cowardice and vengeance.

"No." he replied, a simple to-the-point answer.

Her eyes filled with tears silently, blurring the sight of him. It didn't matter though, because he wasn't showing anything. He was dead.

Slowly she reached up, burying her hands in her hair, pulling lightly at it.

Dead. He was dead dead dead dead!

"Why?' her voice shook. "Why won't you kill me? Please just kill me…"

"You make me curious."

She froze. Fingers tangled in her filthy hair.

"Whatever could my brother find within you that would draw him away?"

The feel of her heart sinking painfully forced her to close her eyes. Another session of beatings would ensue, another session of disgust and pain and agony, for answers she saw no meaning to.

Why did he care? What did it matter?

Her ears twitched to listen again, forcing herself to hear his question, the next one in a long line, she assumed.

"…I wonder…are you addictive...?" his voice drifted for a moment, sounding far closer than she ever remembered.

"…what does addiction taste like?"

Gasping she looked up, at the exact moment that his lips crashed into hers, burning with the sensation, like kissing a coal off a burning fire.

The tears weren't ever going to stop, she was sure.

Blood, he tasted of blood, her blood, metallic and sickening and raw. Smoothly he pressed her against the wall, everything about him was so graceful and so forceful. It didn't feel like anything familiar. There was no violence in it, the way Orochimaru's tongue roughly claimed her with jerks and deep exploration. Nor was it like Sasuke's tentative caress… his soft attempt to know her better…

He was decisive, silent, matter of fact. Like working out a mathematical equation he tasted her, explored her carefully, like a doctor over a patient's bare body.

The tears were never, ever going to stop, because…

…he had taken away one of her two treasures.

Sasuke would never kiss her again.

* * *

Sasuke flinched, turning around sharply at the sound of a scream, strangled and painful in the utter silence.

The sound of the fire a little ways away at the camp site was the only thing to harmonize with it, soon followed by the sound of the other's voices talking quietly and nervously, tense.

He had known, something was following, all throughout the day he had sensed it, a pair of eyes roaming…

Like a flickering shadow he shifted through the forest, feet only whispering over it's carpet of moss and leafs, listening to the sobs and confused screams. The others had been surprised when he had said he would scout the area. He hadn't volunteered to do so during their entire trip. But the nagging refused to go away. He had to find whomever hid in the shadows. He had an idea, after all of who it was…

The voice was familiar, he knew who roamed the darkness.

_Damnit! _

Breathing heavily more because of the panic rather than the run he slowed and stopped at the sight of the child, wide eyed and confused, drenched in moonlight and what looked like blood.

Tears were pouring down her face, dazed eyes looking around in confusion as if the sights and sounds of her reality did not make sense.

Dark circles of a darker shade of purple decorated the usually plain lavender gaze, looking almost like pupils. He started in surprise, rushing forward, slamming a hand over her mouth.

"Hanabi."

Hysteria, that was what it was… it had to be. Shaking and crying still the girl struggled weakly against his hand, breathing in hard through her nose in an attempt to keep from suffocating.

The blood continued to stain her clothing, dripping from her elbow. Confused he twisted, grabbing her wrist and pulling it upwards to inspect the wound.

The pale flesh showed through her ripped sleeve, nothing more than a thin slash that had decided to bleed profusely in a very unhelpful manner.

"Hanabi!" he snapped, shoving her sleeve up past her elbow to examine the wound.

"She…she killed- she killed-she- there was so much blood and it hurt…!" Her body curled in his lap, face burying itself in his clothing. Startled the young man froze, flickers of memories confusing his mind.

Hinata had done that…. A long time ago, it felt like years ago.

She had dreamed about him.

"Sasuke!" the sound of Sakura's call through the woodland couldn't have been more welcome. Straining to control the sobbing child in his arms he looked around, considering shouting back to get their attention, but Hanabi seemed to be doing a sufficient enough job at being noisy.

Sure enough three flickering shadows appeared in the moonlight, Neji followed by Tenten and Sakura.

"Hanabi!" the usually stoic Hyuuga gasped, rushing forward rapidly. "There's blood!"

"What's going on?' Tenten whispered, crouching beside Sasuke, reaching out for the girl's shivering form. "Hanabi-chan?"

"Onee-chan…" the girl whimpered softly, her grip tightening on Sasuke's clothing. Slowly she shifted, her dazed gaze turning towards them.

All three shinobi started in surprise, the dark purple pupils in her usually pale eyes startling in the sudden darkness.

"N-nani-" Sakura gasped, crouching down beside the girl rapidly. "She must be sick!"

"No…" Neji whispered, taking her chin gently, forcing her to look at him as softly as he could. As expected her eyes stared out beyond him, through him. He didn't exist to her.

"…it's the Byakugan's manifestation…" the Hyuuga breathed.

Sasuke and Sakura turned to look at him sharply, frowning. "What?"

Tenten took the girl's hands, ripping them slowly from Sasuke's clothing, dragging the shivering form onto her own lap, whispering words of comfort into her ear.

"What manifestation?" Sakura snapped, forcing Neji's gaze on her. "What are you talking about?'

"…the council." Neji sighed softly, looking away, realizing neither of them knew. Hinata had just found out days before being taken away… Sasuke had obviously not been told.

"The council what?" Sakura snapped again. "Spit it out already, she looks like she's going to have a cardiac arrest, damnit!"

"The council told them about it. It's like the Sharingan's Mangekyo." Neji replied softly, watching Hanabi's form slowly stop quivering, relaxing into Tenten's arms.

"…they can see bits of the future."

And just like that, it felt like all the air had been knocked out of Sasuke's lungs.

* * *

"She followed?" Shikamaru sighed, leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree, chewing with his eyes closed on a tooth pick.

"How troublesome… she's just a child."

"We were going on missions like this at her age." Sakura snapped, glancing in his direction. "I'd stop complaining."

"We're facing Akatsuki." Shino intervened slowly, poking at the fire, the reflection of the dancing flames on his dark glasses an interesting image.

"She is the next in line for the Hyuuga title."

Sakura did not reply, bending over the suddenly sleeping child, pushing away her soft strands of dark hair. Tenten sat near by, hugging her knees, staring into the dancing flames like most of the others, her shirt stained and wet from Hanabi's tears.

"You can hardly blame her for coming." Ino admitted slowly, glancing over at the girl, letting out a sigh. "It's not fair that she should stay behind."

Abruptly Naruto, Neji and Sasuke entered the clearing, carrying Hanabi's gear, their faces serious as ever, a strange contrast for Naruto's usually happy go lucky expression.

Sakura and Tenten shifted uncomfortably, glancing at them out of the corner of their eyes. The young men had drifted into the forest to talk about the Byakugan's odd capabilities, and for Neji to relate what Hanabi had told him before they left.

If their eyes could burn with more intensity they would be defying the very fire that warmed them all.

"How is she?" Neji asked quietly, crouching down beside his little cousin, breaking the awkward silence that threatened to consume them.

"Fine, as far as I can tell…" Sakura shrugged. "…her chakra is depleted." She added softly, so the others wouldn't hear. The Byakugan's secrets were hardly something the council wanted everyone to know about. Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke had been given a secret to keep.

Neji flinched, letting out a sigh. "…I don't know if that's normal."

"It is." Sasuke snapped, dropping the girl's bag by her roughly. "She'll be fine in a few hours."

The Hyuuga did not reply, accepting his information without question. After telling him of the manifestation the Uchiha had looked perplexed, as if a puzzle were being solved in his head, which it was.

Suddenly it all made sense. Hinata's reluctance to leave him in the forest, her stubbornness to return, her nightmares months before the incident during the Chuunin examination. It had been a premonition and neither of them had even realized it.

"What are we going to do with Hanabi-san?" Lee enquired from the other side of the clearing, fiddling silently with the weights around his ankles. "Should one of us take her back?"

Silence ensued for a long moment, eyes traveled from face to face, trying to judge who would be willing to back out of the upcoming fight to return the Hyuuga princess to safety.

"…I'm sure as hell not doing it." Kiba grunted. "There's no way I'm walking out of a fight with Akatsuki."

"We need everyone." Shikamaru snapped, cutting them off before they could start pointing fingers. "We'll be at the destination on the instructions by dusk tomorrow."

Long silence followed that statement, downcast eyes focused on the ground and the thoughts of worry lingering in their minds.

"I'm not going back."

Startled the group turned to look at Hanabi, slowly pushing herself up to her elbow. Her face was pale, and like her older sister before her, dark circles lined her eyes.

Sasuke noted each similarity and knew he had been right. A good night's rest would bring her chakra rushing back.

"Hanabi-chan-" Neji began.

"I won't!" Hanabi snapped suddenly, voice trembling. "Something's wrong."

Slowly Tenten crawled over towards the frail girl, tugging the all too willing child into her lap again.

"Did you dream of anything, Hanabi-chan?" she enquired softly, tucking her hair behind her ear, studying her sickly face carefully.

Hanabi's eyes watered at the question, lip trembling as she stared at her hands, useless and small in her lap.

"…she killed me."

Silence echoed, a sickening sensation sliding over all their bodies. Skin crawling with the fear Sakura swallowed.

"What?"

Standing in the shadows Sasuke watched, hands tight at his sides, the fear on Hanabi's face making his chest ache.

Hinata would die before hurting her sister… she had to be wrong.

"…she stabbed me. I was…there, in a cell…and she… she…it hurt…" Softly the girl lifted her hands up to her face, wiping away the tears.

"It hurt a lot."

No one understood, no one but the shadow in the corner, shaking from head to foot.

He knew how much it hurt, for he was feeling a pain similar to that in his chest, and he knew only one way Hinata would do such a thing to her sister.

Slowly the young man reached up, grasping the hilt of his katana strapped securely to his back.

Only if she wasn't herself would Hinata do something like the nightmarish creature Hanabi was whispering about.

And the only way she could not be herself… was Orochimaru.

Dusk would bring blood.

* * *

**Lordy this took a long time to do…**

**It is so horribly written that I beg your pardon. No description whatsoever. **

**Please forgive me, I shall edit this when it's not two in the morning… **

**Lol, leave me some love, ne? **

**-inky **


	6. Chp 5: It Changes Everything

"How do you expect to move with a child in tow?" Neji snapped, facing Naruto and Sasuke, feeling more and more like he was being teamed up on. He had never expected Sasuke of all people to vocally agree with the blonde loud mouth.

Naruto was being everything he had ever been described as: stubborn, loud and irritating.

"She's not exactly a child." Naruto grunted, glancing at the girl sitting near Sakura. After gathering her wits about her Hanabi had returned to being the proud daughter of a respected clan. She had stopped crying, and sat with her back straight, allowing Sakura to bandage the wound on her elbow without moving.

"She's the youngest daughter of the Hyuuga's main house." Neji hissed softly, drawing the blonde's attention back.

Shadows flickered over their faces. It was a few hours before dawn, and the darkness was it's thickest as a result, black like ink and easy to suffocate in.

"If what she says is going to happen is true… we have no time nor people to drag her back to Konoha." Sasuke replied simply, as if stating an obvious answer to a mathematical equation. His face was impassive, hands stuffed in his pockets he leaned casually against a nearby tree trunk.

Had it not been for the circles under his eyes or the constant movement of his right hand gripping his katana's hilt, Neji would have assumed that the Uchiha didn't give a damn about the situation.

"It was obviously just a nightmare." Neji replied sharply to his comment, recalling Hanabi's detailed description of her dream.

There was no way in hell he was going to admit that it was a possibility.

"No." Sasuke stated thinly, noting that Naruto was being quiet, pensive even, staring off into the darkness as he thought hard.

"It's not just a nightmare. Her eyes were different, her blood limit had woken. Hinata's own premonition became real, at the examination…" he frowned.

The Hyuuga guardian flinched, turning away. "…are you saying perhaps she's already-"

"No." Naruto cut in sharply, making the two genii start in surprise, remembering that the blonde was there. It was easy to forget him when he suddenly got so quiet. "No, it doesn't mean anything. Hinata had her dreams months before the examination, didn't she?" He muttered, turning to look at them, arms crossed.

"We should be thinking about Hanabi's dreams like alternate possibilities. She also dreamed that Hinata was killed. Both possibilities cannot happen at the same time, so I suppose they're just that, something that might happen."

Neji and Sasuke stared in silence, stunned into the quiet reverie by Naruto's accurate articulation of the situation.

"Either way, we still have Hanabi to deal with-" Neji began finally, snapping out of it first. Sasuke mentally screamed, wishing to strangle the stubborn Hyuuga.

"For god's sake-" Naruto began, sounding as frustrated as Sasuke felt.

"She'll stay with me." Sasuke cut in sharply, his voice a low whisper controlled of all emotion. For a moment no one responded, Neji only stared, trying to process what he was saying.

"With you? If anything she should be with me!"

"You're going into battle." Sasuke snapped, finally loosing patience. "I'll be going around it to find Hinata. If Shikamaru is right, they don't know if I'm alive or not, if she's with me it's more likely that she won't get into trouble. There's no way we can leave her behind either, she'll come after us again. I'll take care of her." He grunted, turning around.

Naruto shrugged, glancing over at the livid Neji beside him. "He's right. No way around it."

"Fuck it." The Hyuuga grunted, turning in the opposite direction of the Avenger and the fire. "I'm going to scout the area."

"Suit yourself." Naruto shrugged, watching him flicker out of sight.

Languidly the blonde headed back, noting that though he made no show of it Sasuke was sitting a few meters away from the Hyuuga princess, hugging the shadows, looking almost as livid as Neji himself.

"How's the wound?" he sighed, crouching down beside the girl, studying the familiar features of the Hyuuga household, noting the differences between his friend and her smaller counter part.

She was thinner for one, Hinata had always been cuter in the sense that she was shorter, with more curve to her body than length. The long hair that fell around Hanabi's face hid most of it in shadow, not helping the image of dark circles lining her eyes.

She had slept well throughout the night, refusing to let go of Tenten's hand for the most part until she woke again. Then, much like Neji rather than Hinata she had refused all help and sat straight with that arrogant aristocratic nose of hers stuck in the air.

"Fine." The girl replied, glancing up at him quickly as Sakura peeled back the bloody bandage she had just applied.

"You must have hit a vein. It's being hellish to close up, I figured I wouldn't need to close it up with chakra, but I guess I might…" Sakura admitted, then stopped, her hands hovering over the thin little arm.

"Ano…" she began, an idea forming in her head rapidly. "Sasuke-kun?" she turned, looking over at the silent Uchiha.

He stared back, knowing what she was going to say and disliking it already.

"No."

"I'm not asking you." Sakura replied, refusing to allow hesitation to crawl into her voice though it was in her head. "If you're ever going to learn you need to use it. Come over here."

Naruto stared at the med nin in surprise, along with Sasuke who blinked at her, his face still that cold impassive stance.

Without a word he stood, pushing himself up as if he were a puppet on strings, no effort at all showed at his movement.

Sakura noted this with silent relief. He was becoming more and more like the Sasuke she remembered. Hinata's disappearance had left them all with a shadowy distorted reflection of what he had once been. Now, it seemed, he was readying himself to get her back, and with it came his usual temper.

"It's won't be too hard." Sakura muttered, standing up to give him room as he crouched beside the Hyuuga princess, who started in surprise, blinking at him like he had grown an extra head.

"Healing? Nani? Since when?"

"Shut up." Sasuke retorted thinly, his face lighting up as chakra rolled out of his hands and began to glow.

Obeying without a thought to his rudeness Hanabi slammed her jaw closed, watching with care as his fingers slid over the wounded skin and began to knit the parted flesh together, the blood stopping abruptly it's rapid flow.

The others refused to watch, knowing it would probably just make the already uncomfortable Uchiha nervous. Naruto and Sakura however paid close attention, watching as Sasuke's expression slowly melted into something like…

Relief.

The blood stopped. It had actually, absolutely stopped. His hands were shaking and there was no way to deny it as he pulled back, staring at them. They felt knew, as if they were a new addition to his body.

_It's not flowing anymore… it's not…hurting anymore… _

_I did that. _

Memories of Hinata's whispers, her voice as she explained her affiliation to the healing jutus used by her companion med nins. He had been uninterested…puzzled a little by it…

_"But it holds you back, you've said it yourself." He muttered, running his hands through her hair, a spill of black ebony over her ivory white skin, pooling on the covers of his bed. _

_The warmth of her, and the sweet scent was lulling him to sleep, but he listened to her talk, her voice like a lullaby to help the sleepiness along. _

_She knew it, and smiled softly, half paying attention to the conversation, have fascinated by the light dancing on his own blue-ish black locks. _

_"Hai, healer's weakness… we never go as hard as we can." _

_"It might cost you your life, one day…" his eyes flickered up to meet her own, the slight anxiety there making a feeling wriggle in her chest. _

_Instinctively she leaned forward, kissing him, having no words to express the fidgety sensation in her chest. His care, his eyes, everything about him was so gentle, and yet his words were a hard contrast because he wanted her to stay. _

_It was so confusing. _

_Softly she pulled back, aware of her blushing but also aware of his own burning cheeks, no longer feeling the least bit sleepy. _

_"It might cost me my life… but I might save many more instead." _

_He had not understood. _

"It makes sense." He blinked, surprised by his words. Hanabi stared at him from where she sat for a moment before turning her arm to stare at the freshly healed wound.

"You've got it?" Sakura enquired, not understanding what he was thinking. She crouched down again, examining the girl's elbow with careful fingers.

"Hai." Sasuke replied quickly, allowing her to think what she liked.

Nodding rapidly the pink haired nin turned to look at him, smiling. "You did fine. You should be able to do that without much trouble now."

"Heh." Naruto grunted beside him, flashing him a smirk. "Who knew you could do things other than try to strangle me."

Sasuke didn't reply but shoved himself up, still looking a little stunned.

_Who knew indeed… _

The sudden break of the shadows brought him sharply to reality, watching as the light of the rising sun chased away the darkness, uncovering the many colors of the forest ground.

Shikamaru stood on the other side of the camp, slipping his pack onto his shoulder smoothly.

"We're moving out. We should be at the location by the end of the day."

Silence responded, the others becoming aware of what was to come.

Hanabi stood beside Sasuke, looking through the branches at the rising sun in the horizon.

"Ne, Sasuke-san?" she whispered, knowing he would probably not reply, despite her attempts. "…do you think Onee-chan can see the sun rising too?"

Little did she know he flinched inside, swallowing a knot of pain in his throat. He did not reply, as she expected.

Because he honestly didn't think she could.

If his brother and his former sensei were the ones behind her pain, she wouldn't be able to see much of anything at all.

* * *

It was true, she was certain it was true. She was never going to stop crying. The sobs, continually painful in her chest started the moment his lips parted from hers, leaving her feeling more raw and tediously used that ever before.

He had looked at her, dark eyes interested in the shell shocked expression on her face. Her eyes had looked past him, through him, through the walls into eternal darkness.

"…addictive indeed…" there was a whisper, it echoed, rippling through her reality and into the sanctuary of her mind where Hate stood chained, the bonds that held her limp on the ground for she was not straining.

Hate itself had been stunned into silence. Whatever did it mean? What did the burning sensation on her lips mean?

He had pulled back, stood up, and returning the mask of utter silence over his face he had moved outside, not bothering look back at the girl frozen in place on the ground.

The moment the door closed the tears had started, dripping down her face, ripping a trail of clean skin on her once more dirtied cheeks.

It hurt to sob so hard for so long, she could hardly breathe anymore, each nauseating gasp of agony drowned her in a sea of more pain as her ribs shifted and strained. It hurt, it hurt to live knowing…

_Sasuke… Oh God Sasuke… I'm sorry… _

Worse than being violated she had been claimed. Their smell was on her skin, infused with her very blood, her hair, her mouth, her tongue. It all tasted of them, the snake and the monster.

They were both monsters…

Gasping for breath she rolled onto her back, staring up at the darkness of the roof and the ever swirling crimson shades that dotted her vision.

_Sasuke! Sasuke please… oh please… someone… I can't take much more of this… _

Slowly her gaze began to grow unfocused, lavender eyes staring past the reality they were taking in, dirtied with images of her own mind, her haven which no longer felt like a haven at all, but a cage.

_The field of grass and flowers continued to sway, dancing softly to the tune of the breeze. Wind chimes giggled in the distance, sarcastic and ironic as she sat, facing Hate, noting that the blood had dried around her wrists and ankles again. The chains were loose, she was not straining. _

_That did not mean she had given up. _

_The very same eyes she saw every time she looked in the mirror stared at her with a very different expression, the emotion there was raw, a fire that wouldn't be put out easily. Her studies as a shinobi had included analisys of how dangerous situations developed… _

_One such situation described the order in which berserkers strayed while reaching their peak of insanity. _

_After explosive destructive energy they usually sat in silence, brooding and building the negative emotions. That was when one should be wary. _

_Hinata stared back at Hate, taking a deep shaking breath through her bruised bitten lips. _

_"…don't look at me like that." Her voice shook, wavered with contained tears. There was nothing strong about it. She had used all her strength. _

_The girl smirked slowly, lacking in all amusement, moving her hands to smooth out a wrinkle on her dark red kimono, the jingle of her chains making Hinata flinch involuntarily. _

_"You let him." _

_Her voice was soft and seemingly calm, but the dangerous tone was there, like the crackling sound of fire. _

_Hinata closed her eyes, licking her sore lips tentatively. _

_"…I didn't. I wouldn't do that." _

_"Do you really think Sasuke will ever wish to touch you again?" Hate's voice echoed in her head, drowning out all other thoughts. _

_"You've been truly tainted. Dipped in that monster's very essence! I could have destroyed him!" _

_"I would die." Hinata whispered, looking up, staring at herself at the part of herself that despite it all she felt was right. "…I would die without seeing Sasuke again." _

_"Dying is better." _

_"…maybe you're right..." _

_Hate's lavender gaze gleamed dangerously. "I will be free, one day. You will see. You'll come to me, and you'll undo the chains yourself." She leaned forward slowly, so that Hinata had to catch her breath in surprise, shivering from the terror that crawled up her back. There was something different about her eyes... what was it? There was power there, power that was frightening._

_"I will destroy them all." _

_There was nothing but truth in her eyes, and dark purple pupils that did not belong… _

* * *

"Neji." Tenten whispered, back pressed up against the trunk of giant oak. The moss tickled her face gently as she peeked around the corner to look through the forest at the vague outline of a building.

"Can you see any of them?"

The team of ninja were spread out strategically, the design marked out on the forest ground by Shikamaru himself.

Ahead past the building's outline and the mountains that reached over the heads of the tree tops was the sun, sinking slowly into the curve of the hills in the distance, tainting the sky shades of odd colors.

The sun was an orb of bright blood, coloring the sky in a diluted shade of pink and orange. The moon had yet to make its appearance but in the corners of the sky where navy was dominating red, twinkling stars sparkled.

The sound of their ear pieces making static noises in the silence echoed in their heads. A little ways away from Tenten herself was Hanabi, crouched down into the roots of another tree, hiding in the shade of Sasuke's shadow, stretching out to envelope her own.

The pale avenger pressed his back against the tree, sharingan rotating slowly in his blood red eyes.

"The building is complicated, there are passage ways under it too, but I cannot see those as well." Neji grunted through his mic, straining his Byakugan through the walls of the building.

"There are four members of Akatsuki… and another…thing… on ground level."

For a moment there was silence as the others processed this information. Sasuke stood silent, jaw clenched, knowing full well what was to come next.

"Thing?" Shikamaru stated, echoing Naruto's inarticulate snaps of surprise.

"Hai." Neji replied hesitantly, frowning into the shadows of the gray that made up his current reality. Images of faded bodies inside the building flickered through his gaze as he scanned the area, focusing at last on the strange chakra mutilated 'thing' in one of the rooms.

"I don't know what it is, but it's chakra system is… confusing."

"Is there any sign of Hinata-chan?" Sakura snapped sharply, cutting off Shikamaru's voice asking for more information.

There was silence for a moment in which Hanabi buried her face in her hands, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

"No…Demo, the lower levels seem to stretch out beyond my sight." Neji muttered. "I can only see the stairs leading down and the first bit of the hall…"

"Right, we'll head in then-" Shikamaru began, and then stopped at the sound of Sasuke's brooding voice.

"Stop. The chakra… the thing he can't understand." Sasuke breathed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose as he watched the last sliver of sun vanish behind the hills.

"…It's Orochimaru."

There was a collective silence in which everyone tried to process the information. Finally a sound like several hard swallows passed through the airwaves and Naruto's voice broke the stillness.

"Well damn, we never said we were going for a picnic. Let's go get Hinata-chan back from those bastards!"

"Shikamaru, can you adjust your strategy to deal with Orochimaru?" Shino enquired, waiting for their strategist to give the order to move forward.

"Sure thing." Came the would be lazy reply. "They're expecting us either way."

"Right." Sakura sighed. "Let's go then."

"Sasuke, Hanabi." Shikmaru added, making the two shinobi watch silently while the others shot forward towards the building, moving with the grace of their village shinobi.

"Hn?" Sasuke enquired, silently wishing the dobe good luck.

"Head around the back, Hanabi-san, I expect you can use your Byakugan to lead Sasuke towards Hinata." Shikamaru continued, his voice fading as he started to reach the distance restricted by the radio.

"Hai!" Hanabi nodded rapidly, even though he couldn't see.

"Good luck." Shikamaru's voice warbled, and then died, static beating through the silence of the radio like a stilled heart .

Swallowing the knot in her throat Hanabi turned to look at the cold avenger before her, taking in his impassive face, attempting to use that to urge courage into her heart.

"Let's go." Sasuke grunted, starting at a steady run through the forest, to the right of where the others were.

Hanabi shot off after him, unlocking her blood line limit as she ran.

_We're coming, Onee-chan, we're coming…_

Things were going to get messy from then on.

Kisame was not a patient man… thing. Rather the animalistic need to have something to do at all times made him unstable in every way imaginable.

Being told that there would be things to 'play' with later on was not a good thing, mainly if said 'things' were late.

Growling impatiently the man-shark stared off through the windows of the mansion-like location that Akatsuki had adjusted for their use.

Hidden in the forest, located near nothing of any importance and covered heavily in jutsu's and seals the building had been completely forgotten and lost for many years.

Akatsuki rarely had a need to gather their forces, however sometimes it was nice to have a place to go to in case they needed to interrogate someone at length and though their members rarely gave a damn about material comforts, it was nice to have a place that didn't stink of rotten bodies or had giant marble pillars to show of that they did in fact like comfort.

The blue monster grunted irritably, flashing white teeth at himself in the reflection on the window, staring at the sun sinking down beyond the hills.

"Where the hell are they, Itachi?" he grumbled, turning to look at his partner, who sat quite content on the marble floor of their expensive sitting room, apparently meditating.

Kisame smirked at the lack of response.

It was more likely that the brute of a man in front of him was devising devilish schemes rather than meditating.

"They should be here soon. We should get ready." Itachi replied, surprising the irritable shark with an actual reply to his question.

Languidly Itachi pulled himself to his feet, moving with that ever present carelessness that seemed ironic. He had a goal; he just wasn't worried about getting there.

"Tch." Kisame grunted, following as they started out the door of the lavishly decorated sitting room into the equally lavish hallway outside.

The black iron used to make railing was tainted with gold, and a carpet of thick red velvet stretched out over the rest of the marble floor leading down stairs to the foyer where the rest of their team was already waiting, Orochimaru included, examining his nails… or _her_ nails.

Kisame could never figure out if it was a woman or a man.

"Tardy as always, Uchiha." Sasori grunted slowly as they stepped down into the foyer.

"Perhaps they will not come for her at all." Deidara muttered beside him, fiddling with some half formed clay thing in his hands. "One kunoichi can hardly be that important."

"The Kyuubi will come." Itachi replied calmly, nodding towards the double doors. "Any minute now."

"And your brother?" Orochimaru enquired, still examining his nails as if they were far more interesting than the situation.

Sasori grunted. "If he comes, I will be surprised. My poison never fails."

Itachi's dark eyes slid across the room towards Sasori, then Orochimaru. "We shall see."

"They're here." Kisame grinned, nodding towards the doors.

"I wonder if they will knock." Deidara smirked, tossing up a bird of white clay into the air.

"It's a pity... I sort of liked those doors." Orochimaru sighed, sounding half dismayed as the fluttering white bird sped towards the intricate double doors.

A split second before the explosion the dangerous shinobi turned their faces away.

With a bang and a sea of fire and ripped wood the entrance was shattered, sending Naruto, Kiba and Shino jumping backwards rapidly to avoid the flying debris.

"Shit!" Naruto hissed, growling deep in his throat as the figures of four cloak clad shinobi stepped out of the smoke and ash.

"That would be him." Itachi nodded. Deidara smirked, tossing a ball of clay up and down thoughtfully as they stepped out of the house onto the clearing in front of the building.

"I don't see your little brother, Uchiha." Orochimaru commented, sliding out of the black smoke as if it didn't bother him in the least.

Snakes slid across his arms and around his neck, forcing Kiba and Akamaru to growl deep in their throats, his smell so repulsive it was igniting the gag reflex in their throats.

"So it would seem." Itachi admitted, turning to look around, Sharingan rotating slowly. "But then again, these three did not come alone."

Naruto dug his feet into the ground, kunai raised, glaring death at the disgusting mess of mutilated perverse men in front of him.

"We've come for Hinata-chan." Shino stated thinly, looking on with steady eyes.

"So hand her over, you useless bastards!" Kiba shouted, incapable of keeping the venom from showing on his expressive features.

Orochimaru frowned, crossing his arms tiredly. "Itachi… your brother…"

"Sasuke is dead." Naruto snapped, following along with Shikamaru's instructions. "I'm here in his place." He hissed, turning his steadily reddening gaze to the impassive Uchiha before him.

"I'm going to kill you, for him."

Sasori grunted in acknowledgement, having expected that information. Itachi frowned slightly, eyes flickering to the ground thoughtfully.

Orochimaru was the one that broke the silence, a smirk sliding over his face. "Well now… this changes everything."

With a flicker of light and half a whisper of sound Itachi and Orochimaru vanished, moving too fast for the others to know what was happening.

"Shit!" Naruto snapped, starting after them rapidly into the house only to be blocked by the grotesque shape of Akatsuki's Sasori.

"I'll take the right side." Deidara smirked, turning to Akamaru and Kiba, lifting a hand up full of white birds. "Come out and play, hiding in the trees isn't a very courageous thing to do." He grinned, tossing the birds into the air to set them free.

Gasping Sakura, Ino and Neji flipped out of the tree branches they were using as cover, followed by Shikamaru Lee and Tenten on the other side just as the trees burst into flames, splinters flying up in a tidal shower of destruction.

"Damn it." Shikamaru grunted, eyes straining towards the doorway.

They were supposed to have distracted the majority of the enemy to give Sasuke and Hanabi a chance…

But Kisame had vanished along with Itachi and Orochimaru, and there was only one place they would be heading towards.

"Let's go." Deidara smiled, lifting another handful of dead eyed birds.

They didn't have a choice in the matter; they would have to be disposed of before they were able to lend help to the others…

And by then, it might very well be too late.

**_Hello everyone _**

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**_So this is the beginning of the fight sequences. If any of you recall the fight scenes on Stronger, you know what you're in for. _**

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**_This chapter doesn't feel as useless as the others, however it hasn't been edited, so excuse any mistakes and so on… plot holes too, which there might be some. _**

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**_I'll work on all that laters _**

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**_Leave me a bit of love, ne? _**

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**_-inky _**


	7. Chp 6: It's Play Time

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It was hard to keep up with him, he ran faster than she had ever pushed herself, but she was determined not to complain, and she didn't.

He was silently proud of her, for putting up with him, with his impatience, or perhaps with her ability to match his need to move, to run, to speed ahead.

"Here?" Sasuke snapped, showing none of his pride in her with his impassive tone. Hanabi nodded as they came to a stop on the side of the building.

"Hai, right there-" gasping she jumped, turning in the direction of the explosion that had cut her off.

Sasuke stared off in that direction as well for a moment, frowning. "…they've started." He murmured softly.

"They're talking… we should hurry." Hanabi whispered. Staring through the walls and trees that blocked sight of their comrades.

Without a reply Sasuke turned back to the wall in front of him, it appeared to be solid rock. Red eyes glittering he took a step back, shoving Hanabi a few feet away without a word.

A deep breath filled his lungs and then his hand began to glow, flickers of blue chakra erupting in all directions, forcing his hair to dance in the wake of the energy.

Hanabi stared, her eyes widening in shock, the image of his chakra system and the rapidly speeding energy solidifying in his hands making her jaw slowly drop in shock.

_…who am I to be here? These shinobi are so above my class… _

"Stay out of the way." He grunted, holding his hand away from his body, taking two steps towards the wall.

Flinching Hanabi flung her arms over her head, listening to the impact of the chakra filled fist against the rock.

The crack and shatter of stone being obliterated was muffled by another explosion in the distance, making them both start in the direction of the front of the house again.

"We have to hurry!" Hanabi whispered, then started in surprise as she turned her eyes to what had once been the wall.

The loosened bits of rock dropped absently around the impassive Uchiha who stood silently in the middle of a giant hole. What looked like a hallway could be seen through the cracked entrance. Rotting slime covered walls with nothing but torches to light the way stretched out in endless twisting passages.

"Let's go." He grunted, jumping through the hole into the hall, looking left and right rapidly.

"This way!" Hanabi cried, scrambling down the ten foot drop from the hole on the wall to the floor.

Rapidly she pointed towards the right. "There's a chakra point in the distance- oh!" she began, startled, her eyes staring out through the walls.

Sasuke froze, listening tensely to the child beside him, Sharingan watching for any hidden traps or possible attackers.

"What?' he snapped impatiently, starting to walk in the direction she had pointed, resisting the urge to run.

_Hinata… Hinata, wait for me… _

"There's something else." Hanabi cried, grabbing his arm. "Wait! We can't go that way- there's something else! Someone else just-"

"Well, well…"

Sasuke spun around sharply, dragging Hanabi behind him so fast she nearly fell. Startled the girl stared in shock, not having seen the monstrous creature made up mixed confusing chakra and mutilated body parts.

The Avenger swallowed dryly, staring in silence, every molecule of his body aching to destroy the being in front of him. Eyes narrowed he reached up, touching the hilt of his katana.

"Orochimaru."

"No _sama?_" the snake enquired candidly, sounding irritated. "That's to be expected, you never were a very polite pupil." He muttered, smirking broadly. "They said you were dead. Clever strategy."

"Hanabi." Sasuke murmured softly. "Go."

"D-demo!"

"Go!" he shouted, his hand shooting out, shoving her roughly in the direction of the empty hall.

Orochimaru's eyes flickered to the child as she scrambled to regain her balance and nodded. "H-hai! We-we'll wait for you!" she gasped, turning to sprint down the hall.

"Pale eyes…" Orochimaru nodded, looking impressed. "Related to your precious little kunoichi, I assume."

Sasuke's body froze, staring at him with a dead expression.

_You touched her… you… _

"You're going to die." The words came out smoothly, calm, like still water. His eyes did not lie. Slowly he pulled the katana, the hiss of the perfect blade sliding out of its sheath whispering over the silence broken only by the explosions in the distance.

Orochimaru smiled, lacking all amusement. "Am I now?"

Without another word the two vanished, flickering out of sight with the speed being used, chakra rolling out of them in waves of destructive power, the sheer energy forcing the walls to crack under the pressure.

But Sasuke could hear and feel nothing. One sentence was running through his head on repeat, echoing like a bell tower.

_He touched her… he touched her… he touched her… _

_He's going to die. _

* * *

It was the explosions that woke her, knocking her out of what felt like a coma. It felt as though days had passed, days of sleeping and residing within her mind. The comfort of new clothes, another bath and a lack of beatings had drawn the color back into her cheeks and the emotion back into her eyes.

Orochimaru had demanded she be better cared for… he didn't want his alternate vessel being damaged when he occupied it.

When she had heard she had cried, cried and laughed so hard at the disgusting situation that it had hurt, and yet… at the end of the miserable bout she had fallen into the deepest sleep of her life, waking to find that her rib had been healed and her wounds treated, her body washed and her clothes changed.

It didn't unnerve her that it happened while she rested… somehow, it didn't feel like they could do much more to her in the ways of pain.

It was death she suddenly feared.

The explosions sounded again, closer, making the walls tremble and the chains that bound her to the wall jingle in a sarcastic little whisper of merriment.

Swallowing swiftly she turned to look at the shackles around her wrists, forcing her to stand, frowning at them impatiently.

If she could unlock her Byakugan she could see what was happening… and see if maybe… if maybe Sasuke-

He slid into the room, closing the door behind himself slowly, the latch falling into place.

Hinata stepped back, watching silently as he pulled a kunai from his cloak, dark eyes focused on her face, the dead expression was back again, nothing like what he had looked like last time while forcing his lips against her skin…

Her body stiffened at the memory, pulling uselessly against the chains that bound her, a bitter taste rising in her mouth.

"N-nani!? W-what are you doing?"

Gasping she shrunk into herself, his body moved in to press against her, kunai raised to her throat, dark eyes staring blankly into hers, lips pressed together in a familiar thin line of impassiveness.

"I have to kill you."

Lullabies were supposed to be sung, wind chime bells were supposed to giggle in the breeze, she was supposed to get married, and she was supposed to love someone…

_"Sasuke…Sasuke, I'm sorry."_

_The breeze whispered softly, tossing her hair back in a wild mane of ink spilled across the green and black page that was the field before her. _

_Hate screamed, pushing against the chains, almost sobbing, the true frustration of her situation making her wrists bleed. _

_"Let me! Let me GO! Let me fucking GO!!" _

_Hinata shook her head, facing away from her, into the darkness that was the black sky. _

_"I'd rather die… remember that?" _

_"NO!" _

Itachi stared at her, at her tear filled eyes, her trembling body shivering against him, forcing him to recall the taste of her lips…

Soft, sweet taste, but distant, she hadn't wanted him.

No surprise there.

Anger flared, for half a second in his chest, and he closed his eyes, ignoring the mocking voice in his head that stated he was pathetic, that he had been using his brother, and now this broken shivering kunoichi before him to make him feel alive, to make him feel like he had some other goal past living day to day and killing.

The voice shut up as he opened his gaze to look at her, at her wide eyes and the tears streaming down her face. He was going to kill her with the next words.

"Sasuke is dead."

The tears stopped.

He watched, silently, studying each change of expression, her lips parting slowly.

It echoed. The world cracked. He had to be lying… **_Had to be._**

_"N…no…" the ground shook beneath her knees, cracking open into a desperate void of darkness that swallowed the black blooms and grass. Giant pieces of the landscape fell in, clouds, stars, everything. _

_The wind was blowing harshly, making her hair dance in her face, though she could see nothing, her dry eyes fixated in a world beyond seeing. _

_"No…" _

"You're lying." Her words shook, and he noticed she wasn't seeing him anymore, her gaze was staring out into a reality that didn't exist. He studied that expression and wondered what exactly it was she saw, lifting his kunai up again, pressing it gently to her throat.

"No. I refuse to let Orochimaru take you, you were not part of the bargain."

_"He's not lying." _

_Throughout the chaos of the screaming wind, the sound of the falling stones and the shower of falling stars the logical calm voice dominated, forcing Hinata to breathe in softly and turn, staring over her shoulder at her reflection…at her Hate. _

_"He's not." It was an agreement, she stood slowly, swallowing the knot in her throat, walking slowly past the gaping holes over the field, chunks of the very reality she had built falling apart as she walked. _

_Hate smiled, pushing herself to her feet slowly, the jingling sound of the chains echoing through and past the roaring wind and the sound of the crashing stars that lit up the dark sky like it was on fire. _

_"Hurry." _

Itachi stopped, pressing the cold knife to her throat, watching in confusion as her expression changed, her head hanging slightly, long bangs covering her face.

The chains bound around her wrists jingled, causing his eyes to flicker towards them, frowning slightly, watching her arms straining.

"…Itachi." Her voice brought his gaze back, allowing himself a small frown, the whisper of a warning making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

_"You were right." She stared up at herself, noting with some envy the sight of a rotating Byakugan in Hate's eyes. The power she had never been able to muster glowing there, dark violet and solid, a pupil that had never been there before. _

_"Yes." Hate smiled softly, that predatory smirk of power. _

_"I need you to do what I can't." Hinata began slowly, taking her wrists, her fingers undoing the screws that held the shackles in place. _

_With a thud that seemed to ripple through their shattering reality the shackles fell to the ground and disintegrated into a black dust that mixed with the blood pollen, a toxic mix. _

_"Which is?" Hate enquired softly, rubbing dry and wet blood from her ripped wrists before looking up with those dangerous looking eyes. _

_Hinata didn't hesitate, flickering images of Sasuke's face and eyes making her chest hurt. He would pay… he would pay dearly. _

_"Kill him." _

_Hate smiled, genuine and sweet with an after taste of blood. Softly she reached out, taking Hinata's face in her hands. _

_"It's play time." _

Slowly the Hyuuga heiress raised her head to stare at him, lavender eyes glittering beautifully, catching him off guard.

There were no more tears on her face, only a slight upward turn of her lips that looked like a nerve wrecking smirk.

Startled he drew back slightly, frowning. "…nani…"

Leaning into him slightly, pulling heavily on the chains that groaned against her force Hinata bent her head near his ear, licking her lips slowly.

"…you're going to die."

Itachi frowned, staring at the wall, at the cracks spreading across its surface like spider webs from the point where the chains were imbedded, the stone there crumbling away as her hands pulled.

Slowly she pulled back to look at him, and he clenched his jaw, taking another step back, watching in shock as darkness seemed to collect at the center of her lavender gaze, a violent violet bloom of purple forcing a pupil to appear, her eyes narrowing into a predators intense stare.

With a grunt and a flash of violet chakra the chains snapped, debris crumbling to the ground around her feet.

Breathing slowly Itachi took another step back, Sharingan rotating in his gaze.

"…that will be of no use now." Hinata whispered, discarding the twisted shackles around her wrists like bracelets to clatter onto the ground.

They were playing a new game now.

* * *

Hanabi breathed deeply, straining to control her panic. The sound of the shattering stone behind her and the clang of kunai on kunai made her head throb but she pushed on, eyes searching again for that familiar chakra glow in the distance.

She frowned, pushing her eyes to stare through the walls, watching the two unfamiliar chakra systems flaring rapidly two halls down.

"What-" she gasped, stopping abruptly at the sight of what she thought might be Hinata's face in the distance.

"Onee-chan!?"

"Now what have we here?"

Alarm bells ringing, Hanabi jumped, dodging the slice of a giant razor like sword passing under her body.

Crying out in surprise she jumped backwards, feeling the wind caused by the swinging blade.

Shark eyes and flashing teeth greeted her as the sword withdrew, leaning gently against his shoulder.

"Pale eyes… You wouldn't happen to be related to that little bother of a kunoichi would you now?' Kisame grunted, smirking.

Breathing heavily Hanabi stepped back, hands tight around her kunai.

"Let's see if you're as much fun." The shark grinned viciously, making her eyes widen sharply.

With a flicker the giant man vanished, forcing her to dodge again, passing under the giant sword, flipping her body backwards in a series of summersaults, straining to stay one step ahead of him, ignoring the loud sound of her heart beating sharply.

"Quick little bitch." Kisame grunted, slamming his sword into the wall where she had been standing against a moment before. Grunting heavily he pulled at it, ripping half the wall out with the sword.

Hanabi shivered, standing behind him, hands up, Byakugan activated.

_I can't fight him! I can't fight him on my own… he'll destroy me… _

Straining not to cry again she stepped back, watching him turn to look at her, cracking his neck calmly.

"All right, let's get started." He grinned again.

She didn't even see him move.

The wall was absolutely destroyed, nothing was left, she could see clearly into the other cell and its empty disgusting familiarity.

Itachi stood in front of her, looking for all the world like he didn't mind what was happening, but that was quickly betrayed by the slashes across his cloak, ripped by her chakra infused hands, and the rapid rotation of his Sharingan.

He had already attempted to use it, and found it futile. Hinata just stared back at him, impassive.

"It's my Byakugan." Hinata explained softly, looking as impassive as him, save for the ever present smirk. Gently she lifted a glowing hand, watching deliberately as the purple chakra rushed up into a knife-like shape.

"…did you know, your Sharingan developed from my Byakugan?" her eyes turned back to his, the violent purple pupil at it's center rotating to challenge his own Sharingan.

"I guess, we've started to do what you do."

Sweat was sliding down the side of her face, along with blood. But she wasn't done, she wasn't finished at all. Slowly she lifted her hand, smirking past the glowing purple chakra that wavered against her pale skin.

Her finger tips were tainted with blood. It was good to know he could bleed. He stood across from her in the cell, dark red eyes rotating slowly as he blinked, a look of impassive silence over his face.

She knew now though, that it was all an act.

_You're not dead at all… _

_ Not yet, anyway. _

Her own pupils shifted, such a deep purple that they seemed black. His Sharingan was useless. They were from the same blood line, a long time ago, but still the same… She had reached a level close to his.

"What exactly are you?" his voice slipped through the sound of their harmonizing gasps, just as steady as she expected.

But she smiled, cracking his mask for a moment as a frown slipped over his features at the sight of that smile…

This wasn't amusing anymore. He wasn't supposed to be mocked by prey.

"Hyuuga." She whispered, flickering out of sight sharply. Knowing full well where she was going to appear he turned, lifting an arm to block the round kick to his head, moving already to slash her open with the kunai in his hand.

Only to find her hands there, holding it at bay, eyes close enough for him to see the expression of mocking satisfaction.

"…I can see your movements." She smiled again.

A feeling rose up in his chest, forcing an expression to form on his face again, breaking the mask. Bigger cracks every single time.

Frustration.

Grunting rapidly he shoved, sending her flipping through the air with the force. Chakra rolling out of her in waves she hit the roof, using the rebound force to shoot back down, kicking at the place where he should have been.

Itachi grunted, irritated. "Tch." With a flicker of sound he disappeared, appearing behind her rapidly.

But she was already turned around.

His punch was caught and though the force was enough to throw her forcefully into the ground, shattering the solid stone into a thousand pieces, her grip was tight, dragging him down with her.

Startled he felt his eyes widen slightly, hitting the ground beside her as she swung that arm, flinging her body over his, straddling his waist.

"Bastard! How does it feel to be down there?" Her voice was different, a shocking echo of hate he had known she was harboring but didn't know she could express.

Chakra rolled out of her hands, forcing her hair to fly up in a tidal wave of air as her fist came down where he should have been, ripping the solid stone more easily than if she had been using a blade.

Itachi crouched a few feet away, breathing hard, nursing a slice across his arm where her hand had slid.

His mask of utter calm was slipping, confusion sliding over his face, along with frustration. He had not expected this, he had not fought someone who was so unaffected by his Sharingan…

"What do you plan on doing?" he muttered, eyeing her as she sat there, hand half into the stone ground, imbedded there like a blade, her curtain of dark hair blocking her expression from view.

"He's dead. Your friends are as good as dead as well, Sasori and Deidara are not easy foes to deal with."

Something he had not expected sounded…a soft whispering sound like wind through wind chimes, or bells tolling to a breeze.

She was laughing.

Softly she looked up, peering at him through the curtain of ink dark hair, Byakugan outlining the veins around her eyes.

"Do? I don't plan on d_oing_ anything…You and I…" she smiled, pushing herself softly to her feet, letting out a sigh as she ripped her hand from the ground. "You and I are going to die here."

Itachi balked, looking at her passively, trying to see the true intentions and finding none.

Silently she disappeared; he strained his eyes to follow, feeling her breeze as she passed behind him, the scent of lavender that he remembered from last time as she swung her arm, precision and speed being her best attacks.

Rapidly he spun out of the way, straining to control his frustration.

Perhaps, Uchiha Itachi had met his match.

* * *

Screaming, she hadn't screamed before, none of her missions and none of her training had ever been harsh enough to force a scream from her lips.

But she screamed then, as the hilt of that giant sword was shoved into her being and she flew hard down the hall, half listening to the explosions in the distance and the sound of crackling stone. The whole place was going to be torn to the ground, she was sure of it, everything was crumbling.

Walls of plaster and solid marble were being cracked, their strength wrecked by the power of the chakra that so many within the building contained.

Sadly she was not one of them.

Sobbing she hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop at the very end of the hall. The ground shook under her feet and she thought it was perhaps because she was dizzy and her head was pounding, but that wasn't it…

Gasping for breath, spitting out a mouthful of blood she stared at the stones that shook slightly on the ground, skimming over the rough floor as it shook, vibrating like an earth quake.

Before she could ponder what was happening she gasped, looking up just in time to roll out of the way, the giant razor of Kisame's sword scraped against the wall where she had leaned, drawing sparks flying in all directions.

Like the brute he was Kisame spun the blade over his head, grunting with the effort, maniac eyes taking in her shivering body with obvious delight.

"Tricky little vixen, but you're not as much fun as I had hoped. Time to end it all."

The ground shook sharply again, the sound of something crashing through stone a few feet away made both Hanabi and the shark before her turn sharply to look at the door way of a cell, flung open by the shock force of whatever attack had been used from within.

Hanabi's eyes widened, peering through the heavy walls to see Hinata, chakra rolling out of her dangerously, her expression something her younger sister had never seen in her life.

"Onee-chan!"

"What in the hell?" Kisame grunted, swinging his sword over his head before leaning it against his shoulder.

"Let's have a look then, shall we?"

Startled, Hanabi spun around, flinging her arms in front of her to block the monstrous kick aimed at her chest.

The sound of her forearms shattering under the strain echoed through her head, though her body was flying backwards, shattering into the very walls that kept her from her sister.

Like a small package of blood and tears she smashed through the plaster and stone, rolling to a stop over the debris covered floor, the sight of her sister's hateful face the last thing her eyes saw before going black.

_Onee-chan. _

Startled Hinata froze, body in battle stance, her pupil filled eyes taking in the small lifeless body lying in between herself and Itachi.

For a moment… there was silence, broken slowly by the steps coming down the hall, heavy and brutish… and dead.

_Hinata stared through Hate's eyes… body shaking, the world within her mind had grown still the moment hate vanished and was allowed to rule. _

_"…Hanabi…" _

_There were no more tears to shed. That only magnified the fury. Hate was becoming stronger and stronger with each second… _

_But that single imaget sped up the process. _

Recognition slowly passed over the pale blood stained face. Blinking through her sweat she lowered her hands, her face impassive, staring at the small body.

Itachi stood silently, breathing in slowly to catch his breath, looking at what looked like a miniature version of the woman he had been struggling with.

"…Hanabi."

Her voice said it, sounding alien even to her own ears. Slowly she looked up at Itachi, Byakugan eyes rotating rapidly.

"Say goodbye to your partner."

At that moment Kisame's hand gripped the side of the hole he had inflicted into the wall, peeking in, sword in hand.

"What the hell is going on in here-"

His voice stopped, eyes widening into shock, blood dripping down from his mouth was the first clue.

Slowly he turned, looking at the kunoichi that had appeared so rapidly by his side that he could not see her.

Her hand was in his chest, fingers physically wrapped around the measly hunk of meat he called a heart.

Hinata smiled, looking at him dry eyed and strong, lingering on his pain, watching it with utter satisfaction, savoring the shock and disbelief.

"Remember me?"

Her fingers squeezed.

With a wet gasp of shock Kisame's eyes rolled back into his head, blood spilling from his mouth, his body collapsed heavily on the ground.

Hinata stepped back, looking at her blood stained fingers, twiddling them slowly in the dim light, watching with fascination as the blood glittered.

It was intriguing… it felt… warm.

Itachi didn't move, looking down at his thoroughly dead partner with distaste.

_Shit. _

"Your turn."

Startled out of his reverie he flung up an arm, blocking forearm to forearm her now proved attack. It was deadly, one blow and she could obviously render half his body useless, or if she got a proper location, kill him, as he had seen.

What he had unleashed, he did not know.

"You're beginning to irritate me." He whispered softly, spinning around, managing to connect a kick into her chest, sending her flying to the back wall.

The crash sounded effective but seemed useless as she pulled herself smoothly to her feet without a single grimace, pushing dark hair from her face, wiping the blood at the corner of her mouth and pouring over her eye.

"You're bleeding." She smiled, letting her hands drop to her sides calmly.

Itachi started, hesitating only a moment before looking down at himself.

His cloak had been ripped open all the way to the floor, a slash the size of his entire chest was bleeding unhealthily; it had ripped through the leather and cloth of his usual clothes.

_When did she-?! _

"Made you look."

Grunting in surprise he jumped back, flipping backwards as her attacks rained down on him, slashes of dark purple chakra flashing through his line of sight, a lot faster than he remembered her being last time they had fought, even faster than when they had fought before Kisame entered the room.

"I'm enjoying this a lot more than I expected." She whispered, spinning around with a kick connecting with his forearm again.

The force was impressive, she had put chakra into the round kick, forcing it to crack the bone bending at a disgustingly unhealthy angle.

Eyes widening Itachi jumped backwards again into the hall, breathing hard. "Enough."

His speed increased, rendering even her advanced Byakugan useless.

Silently she felt the blow to her back, his kick sending her crashing into the wall, cracking it from the impact, her body beginning to crumble only to be hit again, and again, repeated punches that were aimed at soft parts of her body, nerves that sent agony rushing to her head.

Each blow sent her deeper into the rock, cracking it, bits of grit and debris falling into her eyes, forcing her to close them, breathing in when she could and the air wasn't being punched out of her lungs.

Blood spilled from her lips, tainting the pale skin red.

It was a pity he couldn't see her face… he would have noticed she was smiling.

* * *

"Katon!"

Fire, blazing raging fire exploded in a tidal wave of flames, engulfing the broken shattered hall. Orochimaru smirked broadly, jumping up onto the roof, running rapidly towards the source of heat, tongue sliding out to reveal that ever present blade.

"Old tricks, Sasuke-kun." That didn't matter, he had been weakened… severely weakened, Hinata's lessons on chakra holes had helped Sasuke render most of his body useless, it was a wonder he was moving at all.

Flinching visibly Sasuke breathed in again, cutting off the stream of flames, dragging his katana out of his sheath just in time to block the blow from the sword coming down on him.

Forcibly he felt his feet sink into the stone, the impact of the chakra weighted swing cracking the solid ground into tatters.

"Tsk, you're proving to be easy prey, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru grunted, flipping smoothly over his head, using the force of the connected blow to send him on an arch over his former pupil's head.

Sasuke was there in a flash, sending a kick flying into the gut of his supposed sensei, Sharingan rotating rapidly in his gaze.

"Don't fucking call me that."

The blow connected rapidly, his speed had increased while training during the year, something his former sensei did not expect. Eyes widening Orochimaru hit the end of the hall hard, landing with a grunt back onto the ground, breathing hard, laughing despite it all.

"That's to be expected of Uchiha Sasuke…"

Breathing slowly Sasuke walked towards him, wiping away a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

The dying flames from his earlier fire lingered on the ground and walls, lighting the way towards his sensei.

But the truth was there, Sasuke didn't have to read into it. Orochimaru was only a flickering shadow of his former power. The body hosting him was rotting again, he needed another.

_Hinata. _

His dire need had forced him to work with the very organization he had left so long ago to achieve his own plans.

He had become nothing more than a troublesome rotting corpse.

"Perhaps I was wrong." The snake commented, pushing himself to his feet slowly, tongue licking away the blood dripping over his lips.

"Perhaps your body is exactly what I need. You've impressed me again, you should be proud."

Without warning Sasuke's fist shot out, nailing him sharply against the wall by the neck.

"You're not moving." He stated, looking at him with rotating Sharingan eyes, breathing in deeply.

"You're half dead."

Orochimaru smirked, looking up at him silently. "You know… I have to say something, before you kill me." He managed, rolling his eyes as if amused by the idea.

"You have excellent choice in women."

Blood splattered, the extra pounds of force added to Sasuke's arm sending his head smacking against the wall, cracking open his skull and shattering the stone.

Grunting heavily, spitting out a mouthful of teeth the pale monster turned to look at him again, cracking his jaw heavily.

"She was good, sweet and tender and wild." He smirked, watching with satisfaction was the tendons on Sasuke's face tensed.

"And probably dead now, since your brother headed in the direction of her cell, I assume to save her from me." He laughed. "Did you know, I was going to take her instead of you."

Sasuke leaned in slowly, listening to the harsh ever racing beat of his heart, the anger in his chest making it ache dully.

"It wouldn't have worked." He whispered, staring directly at his sensei, startling a look of surprise and perhaps even fear into the former sannin's eyes.

"I would have killed you, even if you were in her body. She would have wanted it."

Surprise flowed over the snake's gaze, realizing suddenly the true situation he had put himself in. Startled he reached up, fingers forming jutsu signs.

Blood spilled, the feel of metal against delicate skin forcing his moving fingers to stop, eyes wide staring at his former pupil's face and the utter hatred held there.

"…heh." Orochimaru grunted, looking down slowly, staring at the katana driven into his stomach.

"…I guess… you win."

The life was drifting out of his eyes slowly, drying up like water in the dessert when a scream sounded against the echo of something solid hitting into rock repeatedly.

It was Hinata's voice.

He was gone, leaving the corpse of one of the legendary shinobi in history to fall carelessly to the ground.

He wasn't even worth the time to spit on.

_Hinata… Hinata, be all right… _

* * *

**_Well._**

****

**_I know I diss my work a lot, because, I'm a perfectionist brat that cant stand crappy things. _**

**_However. _**

****

**_I feel, honestly that this chapter was not up to my usual standards, because the fighting sequence felt forced and flat. (Orochimaru vs Sasuke was CRAPPY) _**

****

**_I will be rewriting when inspiration hits me, I'm sorry you all had to put up with it, but I figure… I might as well give you something, cuz I dunno when will be the time that I can actually write this properly. Ima give it a shot again and if it honestly doesn't feel any better, then… I dunno, lol. _**

****

**_-inky _**


	8. Chp 7: My Will

The blows had become something of a nauseating background noise, each punch knocking into a thin layer of chakra she had built around herself, but the blow still echoed, it still resonated in her body, making her brain scream out a warning of how she couldn't last much longer.

The Hyuuga Princess was defeated, seemed defeated, looked defeated in every single way, her body had received the forceful furious blows of a high ranked shinobi lost in his own maddening attempt to destroy her… and save himself.

But she didn't feel defeated, not at all.

With a whisper of falling debris Hinata hit the ground hard, crumbling along with the fallen stone and blood she had shed with each blow that Itachi's careful hands had landed.

The monster before her looked silently at the crumbled heaving form of what he had once thought was someone worthy of his attention… but now he knew what he had wanted was long lost, the color of her eyes had changed and with it had the person inside.

He had destroyed her beyond recognition. Nothing was worth the time it would take to bring Hinata Hyuuga back from the depths of her mind, now bent fully on destroying him, on bringing death upon something…

"Tch." He breathed softly, reaching up to rub away what he was shocked to find was sweat gliding down the side of his face. He had actually strained himself while fighting this little vixen.

"Your attempts were futile, Hyuuga." He whispered softly, lowering himself down to a crouch beside her shivering trembling form.

Hinata coughed, watching the blood trickle out of her mouth and splash on the dry dust of the destroyed wall that covered the floor in a solid coating of white, as if bones had been ground down into powder like flour.

Her advanced Byakugan gaze rotated slowly as she blinked, turning to look up at Itachi, her mouth pulled up into something of a smirk.

"Bastard." She grunted, struggling to push herself up to her feet, watching with satisfaction as he frowned.

It seemed, no matter what he did to the damned woman that smirk refused to leave her face…

"You are very eager for death." Itachi whispered, stopping her movement halfway, his hand slamming out and grabbing her throat, shoving her against the wall again.

Back to square one. Maybe he should just get it over with and kill her off, damned bitch deserved to die… for doing this to him- for doing…

He stopped, startled into silence by the turn his mind had taken.

_What…? She has done nothing… NOTHING. _

Hinata hung there silently, looking at him through thick bangs plastered with sweat and blood.

"Why are you hesitating?" Hinata hissed, struggling through his grip, bright violet pupils fixated on his rotating Sharingan.

He hadn't used it, not really… aside from trying to tell where her moves would come he had not used it, and even that had not worked.

She knew, despite having jumped to a new level of capability, if Uchiha Itachi used his Mangekyo she would have died long ago.

Ah, but that was the key, that was 'her' ace.

There was no way he would win… he didn't want to.

"Why are you hesitating!?" her voice cut through the silence, his eyes focused on her face, watching the hatred there twisting and turning the face that had been nagging at the back of his mind for so bloody long, each night he had heard her screams rushing up the steps to his rooms he had twisted in frustration.

Anxiety… he had felt anxiety. He had refused to let Orochimaru take her as payment in case his brother didn't show, he had refused to let that bastard snake touch her.

Why… why goddamnit it, he had little to do with the deal they had so carefully set up. It had nothing to do with that.

Her pale eyes had stared at him, looking through and past him, the word monster written there clearly for him to read, haunting every single moment of his waking hours.

It had been frustrating, irritating. He hadn't been bothered by anyone… not when they were bleeding to death in his hands, not when he had taken their mind and crushed it under the power of Mangekyo, not when he had slaughtered his own mother and father.

Only once before had his hand stayed, his heart rushed rapidly in his ears and though his eyes betrayed nothing he had struggled, a pair of black and white powers inside of him struggling as he looked at his little brother…

Sasuke had had the same look of disgusted desperation on is face, the same shock in his eyes, the same word.

Monster.

He had left, made up a lie about wanting him to grow and kill him, twisted the knife for good measure, in case anyone ever asked, he had indeed destroyed his brother, and he had done it willingly.

No one could know, no one would know that he hadn't been able to slice through the flesh of his younger sibling's neck… the expression in his eye's stayed his hand.

And now again… **_again_**.

Why did they get to have that expression? Why couldn't he?

Steps, he heard them in the background, and he closed his eyes, realizing it was time. He had waited too long, hadn't made up his mind in time.

Maybe he had made up his mind though… and that was why he refused to move…

He felt both blows at once, the katana he knew belonged to his brother slicing into him from behind, downwards, the pain shooting through his body so fast it was electrifying, but he was rapidly distracted by the sharp shooting agony that exploded in his chest.

Blood splashed on his face and he felt each blood drop accurately on his flesh. Smooth fingers were wrapped around the beating heart within his chest, holding it as he breathed in, each beat fighting against her fingers, and the gasping breath of his lungs vibrated down the katana piercing through him, making his brother's fingers tighten on the hilt at the feeling.

They had killed him together… everything they did… it was together.

Infuriating reality. They had someone to be 'together' with.

"Tch." He whispered, opening his eyes, staring back at the Hyuuga's gaze. The violet explosion of power in her eyes was beginning to fade… turning back into a soft lavender tinge that made his heart beat horribly.

Could it be, she wasn't as broken as he had first imagined?

"…I envied…I envied you." He grunted, feeling the blood trickling down the sides of his mouth, her eyes widening slowly, throat working to swallow the knot in her throat.

She was back, it was so easy for her… so easy. He hadn't been able to go back once the hate had consumed him, and yet here she was, looking at him like she was horrified with what she had done. A part of her obviously wasn't, because her hand still gripped his beating heart, sending agony through his body.

"…both of you…" He closed his eyes, swallowing the blood, the metallic taste reminding him of fear.

Yes, he was afraid… eternal darkness was the only that could possibly await him in death.

Monsters… monster without mother's hid in the darkness.

"…for having…a life…"

He was talking, without even knowing what he was saying. He heard a soft whimper and opened his eyes to see the vague dizzying images of Hinata, the expression on her face that of the end…. It was the expression someone put on when they realized it was the last thing someone was going to see.

"…gomen." He felt his lips twitch, a sarcastic smirk. What could an apology mean to those who had suffered so much?

He heard though, the strangled breath of his brother behind him, the release of the gasp on his neck giving him the final whisper of affirmation.

He had heard, that was all he needed to know.

The panic seemed to finally hit and the Hyuuga princess screamed, a scream of shocked horror and sickness, her hand ripping out of his chest with a violent splash of blood.

He closed his eyes, letting the darkness come as the warmth left his bones.

It was enough…

* * *

Hinata hit the floor again, landing with a thump beside the dead corpse of Itachi Uchiha, the blood spilling from his chest was coating her hand up to her wrist, the feel of his still beating heart forcing her body to retch suddenly, turning aside, coughing up bile and nothing else… there was nothing else to vomit.

A clattering sound of a katana hitting the ground caught her attention and she turned, the darkness already tugging at the edges of her vision, dizziness and exhaustion eating at her reality making the world spin.

The fuzzy unfocused image of Sasuke's face came into view, knocking another painful punch into her stomach.

"…Sasuke..." her lips formed the word, but her voice was gone, screamed into silence by the feel of a man's dying heart.

_I must be dead…I must be dying… _

Her lavender eyes focused on him, or tried to, the blackness was coming too fast. The feel of his hands on her face wasn't real, it couldn't be.

_I'm glad… I got to see you… one more time…I love…I love you… _

The speed of her breathing slowed suddenly from hyperventilating to a long sigh, eyes closing suddenly, her body collapsing against Sasuke's shivering body.

"No!" he gasped, pulling her up, taking her face in his hands shakily, kissing her cheek gently despite the blood and bile and sweat that coated her skin.

"No! Wake up, Hinata, wake up!"

A soft whimper sounded and for a moment he thought it was him, his body reacting against his wishes, at the blood, the sight of his brother, the whispered word of 'gomen'.

It couldn't be happening… everything was being shoved into his mind so forcefully he could hardly function, his mind echoing with the image of hatred on Hinata's face, the voice of his nightmares suddenly whispering for forgiveness, the blood, all the blood, again…

But a hand came to land on his shoulder and he turned sharply to see Neji, staring pale and startled at Hinata's limp body in Sasuke's grip.

"No…"

"She's not- she's not…" Sasuke began, struggled to continue. She looked it, she looked very much like she was gone, like he wouldn't be able to reach her ever again, everything about her was still, but his mind was shaking itself awake.

No… Itachi hadn't… couldn't have… he couldn't have…

The sound of an explosion sounded suddenly, the crumbling of giant stone making the two shinobi turn sharply to face the shattered wall.

Neji growled, deep in his throat, an animalistic sound as he shoved himself to his feet, hands shaking.

He'd kill whatever Akatsuki came through that wall, he'd rip them until there was nothing left-

Coughing and gasping the form of a blood stained Sakura suddenly burst through the debris. The girl nearly fell, struggling to stand, suddenly supported by Tenten who grabbed the girl's arm and threw it over her shoulder.

"Hinata!" Sakura screamed, her green eyes focused suddenly on the limp form in Sasuke's grip.

Neji stepped aside as Tenten struggled forward with the med nin, letting her go as she scrambled to her friend's side for the second time…

Blood again, so much blood.

Sakura shook her head, struggling to clear her thoughts, the tears splashing all over as she pressed her hands against Hinata's neck, straining to find a pulse.

This couldn't be happening, not again.

"Come on, Hinata… come on…"

A thump, slow and steady reached out towards her shaking fingers, making her collapse against her friends, sobbing hard with relief, stopping everyone's heart for a moment as they waited for her words.

"She's… she's still there…"

"Oh Christ." Tenten whispered, crumbling down beside Sakura with relief.

Sasuke ignored them, his head beginning to ache dully, the echoes of Sakura's whispered verdict shaking through his mind.

_She's still there… still here… still… _

_Still with me. _

He didn't realize his face was streaked with tears, silent and unaffecting as he picked her up bridal style, flinching at the way her head hung limply over his arms, the cascade of black hair falling down along her arm.

"Head out, the other's are still fighting Akatsuki, head towards the Sand village, Naruto sent them a message, Gaara should be waiting for us." Sakura struggled to her feet again with Tenten's help.

The sound of rocks being thrown startled them all and they turned to find Neji shoving debris from the small curled up form of Hanabi.

"Hanabi!" Tenten shrieked suddenly, scrambling forward along with Sakura.

Neji was almost yellow with tension, sick to his stomach at the sight of the still body. Slowly he lowered his head against his cousin's mouth, closing his eyes at the feel of a small ragged breath against his skin.

"She's breathing."

"I'll heal her." Sakura grunted, moving to force chakra into her only to be shoved away by Neji.

"No, we have to get out now. At the Sand, we'll get help there-"

An explosion sounded again, forcing them all to turn and look around nervously at the ceiling, the small bits of stone falling sending alarm bells ringing in all their heads.

"Let's go!" Sakura shouted, bending down to heal the snapped tendon her ankle for half a second so she could at least run along with them.

Without another order the group was scrambling down the hallways, Neji carrying Hanabi and Sasuke carrying Hinata, any thought to being too tired, or too wounded to run were thrown out the window, the need to escape with the two princesses forcing their tired bodies to reach for hidden energy within them.

"Up those stairs!" Neji shouted, scrambling up steps as the roof began to quake again, more explosions from above sending bits of stone falling from the walls.

Tenten slowed down as they shoved through the door at the top of the stairs into the darkness of midnight where the other's fought, the tree line only a few feet away.

Neji turned sharply, watching her stop, fiddling with something inside her tunic.

"Tenten!"

"Go!" the girl shouted, pulling out a handful of exploding notes tagged to kunai. "Keep going- I'm getting the others!"

Sakura grabbed Neji's arm as Sasuke vanished into the shadows of the forest, eaten away into the darkness lit only by moonlight.

"Run!" she screamed again, hearing the angry scream of Sasori of the Sand not far away.

Neji complied, the feel of Hanabi's form in his arms forcing him into a sprint after the Uchiha Avenger… who had finally completed his life goal.

* * *

"Fuck!" Naruto screamed, the explosion sending him flying backwards hard, knocking him into the trunks of thin trees on the outskirts of the fighting area. The trees crumbled under the strain until he hit the ground and rolled, smacking into the roots of a bigger oak.

Coughing up blood he shoved himself to his feet, furious, fangs beginning to push through his gums, eyes glowing red.

"The hell with this." He growled, voice starting to become something that sounded nothing like the blonde that everyone loved.

Kiba suddenly flew towards him, receiving the same punishment for getting too close to the Akatsuki fond of explosives.

With a crash and a few curses the wolf boy grabbed onto the forest ground and slid to a stop, scrambling to his feet.

"That's it! I've had it!" he growled.

"Let's go!" Naruto growled, feeling the anger and the chakra that didn't belong to him start to fuel his veins, his heart beating so rapidly in his chest it hurt a little, though that was nothing in comparison to the anger he was feeling.

Kiba was right behind him as they rushed forward again through the trees, hearing the sound of Ino's voice screaming out a curse as she dodged the flying shuriken of one of Sasori's many puppets.

The battle ground had turned into more of a war zone than usual. Craters dotted all of the ground, steaming from the heat of explosions, bugs were crawling over the parts not heated to burn, Shino's calm voice instructing their movement.

Ino was in the background, hiding behind a trunk of a tree, breathing hard, attempting to keep from being cut by one of Sasori's poisoned blades.

Lee was beside her, furious at being unable to get close enough to Sasori to get enough damage on the puppet master.

Suddenly Tenten jumped in, hands full of kunai tagged with explosive notes, her eyes bright.

"Orochimaru, Itachi and Kisame are dead!" she screamed, causing Sasori and Deidara to pause, each of them not without wounds, but in far better condition than the others.

Naruto jumped down beside her, still growling deep in his throat, eyes glowing red.

"Hinata?" he snapped, glancing at her.

"Sasuke has her, it's time to go."

"Fall back." Shikamaru stated thinly, grabbing Ino by the hand and Lee by the collar before dragging them into the darkness.

"Tch!" Deidara grunted, jumping up onto the giant white bird made of clay he so loved to ride.

"I knew this wouldn't work."

Sasori took a step back, frowning. "Useless."

Shino waved a hand, his bugs snapping back sharply like a mass of giant black smoke. "Let's go, Naruto!" he shouted, surprising the blonde by the satisfied sound of his usually monotone voice.

Roughly the bug boy grabbed the Kyuubi vessel by the shirt and dragged him backwards along with Kiba, though both of them were growling out frustrated curses and wishes to burn both Deidara and Sasori to bits.

Tenten glanced back once before flinging her handful of kunai into the windows of the mansion, watching with satisfaction as the whole building burst into flame, the explosion sending a shower of glass shards flying.

With a huff she spun around, racing after the others, glancing back only once to see Sasori had vanished and Deidara's white bird was a speck in the distance, heading away from them.

The nightmare… seemed to have ended…

* * *

**_I'm dead._**

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**_If I'm dead… what am I doing here…? _**

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**_What am I doing here? _**

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_Dark clouds rolled slowly over the horizon, the moon a solid bright orb in the sky of midnight blue, starless. _

_The field of flowers was gone, replaced by green buds yet to bloom, cracks showed that the earth had been ripped recently, and the smell of metal lingered in the air, spiced like blood and rusty shackles. _

_Hinata sat there, arms wrapped tightly around her knees, staring out into the world beyond the hills in the distance, feeling each touch of the breeze that blew by softly, dusty flickers of feathers and glitter caressing her face. _

_"…why?" _

_Softly she buried her face in her arms, feeling the tears start, slow and steady, building up until the knot in her throat was beginning to strangle her, all sound a whimper of pain that threatened to kill her with the sheer aching agony of it's reality. _

_"Hanabi…Hanabi…gomen, gomen…" _

_Softly she felt her arms loosen, her body relaxing with a weeping gasp against the ground, crushing the buds yet to bloom under her. _

_A sound rolled over the ground to accompany the whimpers, gasps of pain she had rarely allowed herself making her whole body ache as it mourned. _

_The feel of blood on her hands continued to make her hand shake uncontrollably. It wasn't disgusting… on the contrary, what was disgusting was how satisfied she had been by it, by crushing the heart. _

_She had screamed because of that, nothing else. _

_"Aw…dearest." Another voice whispered softly, and she opened her sore tear filled eyes to stare up at herself, dressed in the bright red of blood. _

_"Hate." She stated, the first time she had ever called the being by it's name. _

_Hate smiled, satisfied, her cheeks glowing as if she had recently been fed, like a cat having just caught a bird. _

_As if to make the similarity more obvious a pink tongue shot out to lick her lips in a very satisfied manner. _

_"Hello, my dear." She crooned, as if they were suddenly best friends, sweeping down beside her to put her head on her lap, caressing the soft folds of her hair, her fingers gentle, though the sharpness of her nails did not go unnoticed by Hinata's tear stained eyes. _

_"…I…I killed him-" _

_"No, darling." Hate whispered softly, bending down to trace the line of her brow with her lips. "We, we killed him." _

_"…Hanabi…" her voice cracked and she closed her eyes, the feel of those lips on her skin sending shivers of utter terror down her back. _

_"We avenged her." _

_"…Sasuke…" _

_"Itachi is dead… our blood is own our hands, are you not feeling this euphoria?" Hate sighed, as if breathing in a summer scent of flowers. _

_"…it hurts… it all hurts…" Hinata whimpered, rolling into herself, hugging her chest and stomach. The feeling of pain resembled that of snakes twisting and turning in her stomach, aching sensations making her gasp in agony. _

_"Shss… m'dear." Hate whispered again, cradling her head gently, wiping away tears, letting the drops flick off her fingers onto the grass. _

_With a whisper of life the buds touched by the tears bloomed to life, black blossoms with red pollen. _

_"All will be well…now that I am free…" _

_Hinata's eyes snapped open, staring at the hands that were cradling her, the fingers slowly forming the blade of chakra that had struck Itachi's heart and forced him into death. _

_Hate… can consume it all. _

_"No!" _

_With a scream that ripped her already sore throat Hinata shoved herself away, feeling the hiss of the chakra infused blade cutting off a long tendril of hair. _

_Panting heavily, the tears still raining down her face Hinata crouched a few feet away, staring in shock at Hate, her eyes glittering with malice and amusement. _

_"Did you think that I would let you rule now that I am free?" _

_Anger, righteous for the first time in a long time rushed up her spine, the pain dulling the sense of foreboding she usually felt shunned by the anger… anger that came from nowhere, and everywhere. _

_Lightening flashed, making their faces seem pale in the flicker of light, their eyes glittering, locked on one another. _

_"I rule this place… I 'am' this place." Hinata whispered, swallowing the pain in her chest forcefully with each word. _

_Hate scoffed softly, smiling. _

_"Only by my will did you win." _

_"…no…" Hinata found herself smiling back, something of the power within her suddenly breaking revealing the truth. _

_That hate that stood before her… it was as much her as the kind thoughts within her. Under her control. _

_"I 'allowed' you to defeat them. **My** will alone brought us victory." She swallowed, not caring if she was dead or not, she would not let Hate rule this place… this emptiness that was what she had thought to be her mind. _

_"What-" Hate gasped, springing to her feet sharply, the flow of her red robes flickering with the lightening that flashed in the distance. The sound of the thunder echoing rippled the reality and suddenly the shackles and chains snaking from the ground shot upwards, reaching for her greedily. _

_Hinata lifted her hand, leading them with the tips of her fingers, her pale eyes focused, determined. _

_"No!" Hate screamed again, struggling as the chains snapped around her body, an anaconda of metal tightening around her, slamming her into the ground with a cracking of the solid ground below. _

_"I will never let you go." Hinata whispered, crouching down beside her, watching the metal consuming her clone silently, almost sadly. _

_"Never." _

_Hate's spiteful eyes were the last thing she saw… before the wind picked up to carry her away, a puff of lavender dust and tearful sparkles in the wind… _

* * *

**_No, it's not the end, lol_**

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**_One or two more chapters, darlings, and then were done _**

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**_OKAY then. _**

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**_Please review! _**

**_-inky _**


	9. Chp 8: Love Me

**_Aw, you guys waited so patiently, I'm very grateful. _**

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**_I know the last chapter was a little short, but it was just the shove in the general direction I needed it to go on, the final climax and all that jazz. _**

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**_Yes, I do have a few story ideas in my head already (I've tested out a few chapters for some of them) _**

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**_I have a Sasuke/Hinata AU in progress. Two of them actually, though I don't know if I'll finish one, it's too OOC for my taste. _**

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**_My brain is BACK, I'm happily able to write again. (might have something to do with my trip to the library) _**

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**_Also, I'm seeing my doctor to get my cast removed and I should start training again soon, which will greatly improve my battle scenes if there are any in further stories. (aren't you all happy!?) _**

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**_Anyway, please enjoy the next chappies! _**

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**_Leave me some love! _**

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**_-inky _**

**Warning: This chapter is rated a solid M for lemon. (for those fluff lovers out there) **

**No, it's not explicit… much, but it's there, clear as day. Watch out, no suing me for ruining your innocence. (who're you kidding, you've got none!) **

* * *

The light of the sun was moving in odd patterns on the roof, white washed and faded, a little yellow and brown… there was nothing familiar about it.

Her lashes were in the way, long black stripes against the reality of her world, but she could not open her eyes any further, in the cool shadow of the room she knew it was warmth she was feeling, enveloping her completely, the breeze blowing in from the window that let the light in was soothing… a dry summer heat.

Her eyes closed again, staring into the darkness, watching the patterns of red and black match those of the light on the off white ceiling she had seen moments again.

Everything felt dusty, and sore, as if she were waking from a long dream, coming back from some place in her mind she did not understand.

_Where… where am I?_

Slowly she breathed in, a smell like spice and salts tingling her nose, the breeze jingled bells somewhere far away, sounding like a fading tinkle in the silence.

Letting out the long breath she opened her eyes again to stare forcefully at the ceiling, and the dancing light.

Memory was a hard thing to find, questions were coming slowly to the surface, shoving aside the bare facts of her condition.

She couldn't really move, because everything hurt and she couldn't think of a good enough reason to move… moving meant thinking, thinking meant remembering…

Remembering meant…

"Hanabi."

The word was choked on, as if the very letters of the name slammed down her throat, blocking the passage of air. As abruptly as the sudden jump of her heart beat she sat up, flinging the smooth white sheets off her body, hands reaching up to tangle themselves in her hair.

But none of the softness of the sheets, nor the blast of warm air from the bright blue sky outside, or the laughing tinkling of the bells could reach her as her eyes filled with tears, her throat raw with contained screams of realization.

She was somewhere… and Hanabi- and…and…

"Sasuke…"

As if her spine were not working she slowly melted back onto the bed, bland lavender unseeing as the light continued to flicker.

"…they're both… they're both….d-d-d-ea-" her voice choked on the words, lips refusing to let it be said. Saying it made it true.

_Think! Think… Hinata, think! _

Closing her eyes, forcing the tears back she breathed in, her throbbing body coming into focus. The pain was reassuring in a bitter sweet way, a knife twisted in her heart.

Pain meant she was alive, somewhere…

The door opened suddenly to her right, a door she hadn't realized existed, the breeze of it caressed her skin and she sat up abruptly, stupidly freezing at the sight of pink hair and bright green eyes.

It didn't register, the image confusing her stranded mind.

_Sakura? _

The med nin was frozen in place, hands slowly loosening around the salve in her hands, letting it crash against the stone ground below.

Shards of glass splintered into a thousand pieces, snapping both the girls out of their stupor.

"Sakura-" Hinata began, then gasped as the girl stumbled over the shards and grabbed her into a hug that would suffocate her despite all her work at keeping her alive.

Sobbing Sakura buried her face in the crook of her friend's neck, tears staining the bare skin, her grip tightening dangerously around Hinata's still sore body.

"God damn it all!" Sakura's first intelligible words made Hinata stare straight ahead, confused, feeling little of what was happening.

"I thought I-I wouldn't be able to- I … you weren't waking!" Sakura's voice shook and her arms unwound, pulling Hinata back to stare at her, taking her face the way a mother takes her daughter's to study the perfect features.

Her face was tear stained, and her eyes wide in her face. For a moment Hinata's heart softened slightly.

Poor innocent Sakura… such worry she must have endured for her sake.

"Sakura…" Hinata began again, hesitantly testing out her voice to hear it cracking softly with new use, sounding deeper than she recalled but still her voice.

The med nin smiled softly through her sobs, laughing in a manner that was partly panic and sheer relief.

"Hinata." She stated, taking her face in her hands again. "I missed you, and I was scared… but you came back, again."

Hinata looked back at her silently for a moment, feeling weak. What could she do?

_No… I'm not fully here… you don't understand… they're gone… I'm… I'm not really… _

_Complete. _

Her lips trembled for a moment, tears brimming around her eyes.

"Sakura." She stated again, sobbing it softly, making Sakura start, her smile fading. "What…? What's the matter? Hinata?"

Softly the Hyuuga heiress wrapped her arms around her friend, straining for the comfort of human touch… though it was Sasuke's touch she wanted.

"…S-sasuke…and H-hanabi a-a-are they…are they…?" her voice broke, her throat tightening around the word, hoping against hope that it wasn't true. It couldn't be true.

Sakura pulled her back sharply, turning to look at her face, a frown of worry firmly ground into her features.

"Hinata listen to me." She stated firmly.

The girl before her stared back, the tears streaming silently down her face, her body quivering. _Don't tell me… please don't tell me… _

_Don't tell me they're gone. _

* * *

_The run to the Sand was straining, his body was near breaking point. Sweat and blood and grit covering him, the wounds across his stomach bleeding unhealthily, but he was more worried about the blood that didn't belong to him, coating his arms. _

_She hadn't been broken, she wasn't in any danger, but for some reason she was not waking. _

_Wake up, Hinata, wake up. _

_Sakura took her away the moment they reached the Sand and were escorted by the Kazekage's siblings to the home of Gaara himself, given a whole ward, medical ninjas there on the ready. _

_Naruto's friendship with the loveless monster was apparently exactly what they needed. _

_He had stayed in the hallway, had refused treatment, had slammed his fist repeatedly against the wall in an effort to keep his energy from devouring him, his nervous tension making him jittery, moving without need. _

_Sakura's trained hand was the one that finally sedated him, her chakra forcing him into a sleep he fought, despite himself. _

_ He would fight, always… _

_Come back, Hinata… come back… _

Frowning the Uchiha Avenger lowered the book in his hands to the table, looking up to stare at the window facing the desert of sand that surrounded the village beyond the protective wall.

His hair was dripping a mess of wet splotches on the pages of the book, dotting the ink and smudging it as he slammed it closed, plopping down with a heavy sigh into the nearby chair, hands reaching up to rub away the frown between his brows.

It had been a long day… again. The cold shower had done little to relieve the tension in his body, only kneading it back into a loosened knot that would tighten as he moved.

Sleepless nights filled with memories of what had happened followed by long stretched days of standing in the hall where Sakura worked on Hinata's unconscious body. It had been days already and the girl had not woken, much like the first time she had fought Itachi.

His thoughts continued to run in circles, spinning silently through the nightmares that seemed to follow his every thought. Nightmares of slashing through the body of someone screaming out a 'gomen'.

Sighing heavily he leaned his head back on the chair's back, closing his eyes in an attempt to concentrate on something other than the constant ache in his chest. He couldn't even give the feeling much of a name aside from discomfort…

He knew however that it intensified when he thought of Hinata's tired, bloodied form, and the scream that had ripped through her throat as she retched her hand free of his brother's body.

He had never seen so much blood, nor been more silent and utterly stunned. In all his nightmares it had never ended like that…

It was always his hands that were tainted with his brother's blood, his life forfeit to the one he had first intended to destroy. Yet things had gone differently and it was Hinata who had turned to vomit out the shock, her hands coated in a layer of flesh and blood and fluid, Uchiha blood to stain her hands forever.

His hands had been clean… tainted only by the feel of the steel of his katana.

He wished he could take the shock and disgust in Hinata's face and carry it himself… there were too many things in her eyes the moment he looked at her, taking her face in his hands in a desperate attempt to feel her skin.

She had not seen him, really, he knew that… the glaze covering her lavender gaze had told him she could barely comprehend breathing, let alone that it was he who held her.

Sakura had assured him throughout the time they spent at the sand that she would recover, that Hyuuga heiress was no more in danger of dying than Hanabi who had been broken several bones as part of the price paid for her sister.

The throw across the walls had rendered her senseless and stitches had had to be sown against her skull. Her long hair, which even Tenten adored had had to be cut short, like a boy's.

She reminded him of Hinata at that age, small and mouse like.

A knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts and he looked up, staring at the door with a frown, hesitating to open his mouth and say anything.

Aside from Naruto he had had no visitors. The others had given him the room he needed to brood in silence without their eyes to curiously enquire after his silence.

The blonde himself had only come to pass over his food and to tell him how everyone else was doing. No one aside from Hanabi and Hinata had endured serious damage however. It seemed that Deidara and Sasori themselves were skeptical about the plan and did not fight to their full potential.

Shikamaru's agreement to that statement had been the verdict.

They had escaped… because they had let them escape, and despite the humbling reality of it no one felt bad.

Hinata had been rescued, and no one had died. Naruto's words had summed up the feeling for most of the team. "I don't care if we got out butts kicked, we won."

All but Sasuke agreed, his anxiety making his fingers tighten inside his pockets at all times. Frowning at the thought he walked towards the door, letting his hand rest on the door knob, staring into the deep brown of the wood.

They didn't know if Hinata had been rescued in time… her mind… could be ruined.

Without letting himself think another thought in that direction he opened the door and froze, staring in surprise at none other than Hanabi Hyuuga herself.

The short hair cut did not suit her very well, it was shorter at the back, forcing the small mane to flare in an odd manner, framing her eyes and making the ever present bland white pupils look ever more severe.

Little did he know she liked the effect.

Her arm was hanging from a sling, and bandages could be seen wrapped around her shoulders. She had broken her collar bone and shattered her forearm and shoulder along with it, almost all of the force of her being thrown through the wall had been exerted on that particular part of her body.

Aside from being a little pale however, she looked healthy enough, looking up at him expectantly.

"Uchiha-san." She blinked, cocking her head. He had asked for her presence, rendering even Naruto a bit silent by the request.

After all Sasuke had not spoken to anyone by choice for some time.

"Come in." Sasuke grunted, stepping aside and letting her, swallowing the knot of nervousness that accompanied doing something he had not bothered to do for anyone in some time.

Hanabi blinked and then slipped in slowly, glancing down the hall to see Neji sitting up against the wall at the very end, arms crossed, frowning slightly, but not moving to intervene.

Sighing Hanabi closed the door behind herself, turning around to find Sasuke collapsed on a chair by the window, leaning his head back, eyes closed.

Nervously she shifted, glancing left and right in the room, examining it with curious Hyuuga eyes.

The room was no bigger than had been given to anyone else, with a double bed being the center of the room, and a small sitting area to the right, by the corner made of glass and windows to look out into the village and desert sunset.

It looked as if he hadn't really been living in it for the past few days, everything was disturbingly orderly.

Notes were written in his neat hand on the table, with the ink well sitting clean and dry beside it, the brush lying in the sun to dry

The bed was nearly made, looking untouched, the clear white sheets crisp even to the touch as she sat down on the edge, swallowing a knot in her throat.

"…S-sasuke-san-" she began and stopped as he sat up, fixing her with a very serious very impassive stare that silenced her.

"I'd like to apologize." He finally stated, the ache in his chest letting up a bit as his words escaped.

"A-apologize-" Hanabi blinked, startled to find the words she did not expect coming from the Avenger.

Neji had been angry about her broken body… cursing under his breath the fact that Sasuke had abandoned her even though he had said he would take care of her.

Hanabi had been confused by the accusation. They had been in battle, such promises were not always something possible. Her cousin should have known.

However, it became clear to her when Tenten, soothing her worried frown came to her and explained, that should Hanabi have died… most likely, Hinata would never forgive herself.

"Demo-" she began, and stopped again as he raised a hand to stop her, closing his eyes as if asking for patience.

Feeling like the child she was Hanabi bit her lip, to keep it from wobbling tearfully in her frustration.

"I made a promise… I broke it. Gomen."

It was no use, he wouldn't let up, she knew this. Hanabi drew a deep breath, sulking slightly. She wasn't Hinata… she could not change his mind.

"Hai. It's okay."

"No, but I suppose you mean well by saying that." Sasuke retorted smoothly, standing up and heading towards the ink well and brush sitting on the table.

Hanabi tried to restrain a full out brooding wave of irritation at his manners. It didn't matter what she said, he wouldn't change. He had been sulking like a child himself since they had arrived.

"Hinata _will _wake up." Hanabi grunted, irritated by his lack of faith in her sister's strength.

"I don't believe that's part of the current conversation." Sasuke reprimanded softly, attempting to keep calm around the younger girl. He didn't have the strength to play along. Something of the fight had taken away his subtle gall which he had so often used to converse with her. The battle had changed him.

"I don't care!" Hanabi snapped, frowning at his back, and his hands moving to fill the inkwell with water, stirring it to create the black substance against the stone.

"I know Hinata will wake." Sasuke replied, indulging her in her choice of conversation for the sake of getting her to be less agitated. "You don't know what state she will be in when she wakes. That's my reason for silence." He continued, turning to look at her with the pen in his skillful hand.

The setting sun sent a thousand different shades of red bouncing in the room through the window, making Hanabi sigh slightly in frustration, looking on at the man her sister loved with confusion.

He was impossible, she couldn't understand the attraction… aside from the very nice contrast between his white shirt and the shock of jet black hair… or the luminous dark eyes, or the ivory of his skin.

Finding herself blushing miserably Hanabi hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, sighing.

Having a crush on an older sister's fiancé was far too cliché for her taste.

"She's going to be fine. We got her out!" she stated instead of mentioning any of her current thoughts, tossing out a glare for good measure.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow slowly, his back to the little vixen as he slid the pen over a piece of paper with a report on their status to be sent back to Konoha, in his hand and signed by blood so Tsunade knew he wasn't running from his imprisonment at the village.

"You are far too young." Was his only answer, slightly exasperated with her innocence. It was one thing to be nice and half polite to the sister of the one he dearly needed. It was another to endure torture by the same sister.

"Hmph!" Hanabi retorted smartly, earning another long look from those penetrating onyx eyes.

"Are we done here?" she grumbled, wishing she could cross her arms and sulk like she would have anywhere else, if her arm was not totally destroyed.

"I believe so."

"Did we actually solve anything?"

Sasuke smirked down at his note, biting idly into his thumb to press the bleeding smudge against the paper.

"Hn." Was his only reply, reverting back to his old ways. It was funny, the only other people that could make him smile aside from Hinata was the blonde with the attitude, the med nin with the attitude and the little sister with the attitude.

Hinata was just the cool calmness to make the mix tolerable.

"Impossible." Hanabi grumbled, turning around and heading out the door, flinging it open to find Neji waiting down the hall still, arms crossed and a patient pensive expression on his face.

"…you know…" Hanabi mumbled suddenly, turning to look back at him.

Sasuke, startled by the change in her tone turned back, looking at her through the light of the setting sun.

"…Hinata has never quite devoted herself to anyone as fully as she has to you. She's always split herself up into many little bits to try to please us all." Hanabi smiled sadly, lowering her eyes to the floor.

"It's such an impossible task… it's good that she went back to being herself… I guess, having only one person to please is a lot easier than having many." She breathed in softly then, turning to look at him with steel in her eyes.

"And when my sister puts her mind to something, she always succeeds… she _will _come back. And she _will _be fine… if only for your sake."

Without letting him say another word to irritate her she slammed the door, cutting him off and missing the look of startled and genuine surprise on Sasuke's face.

After all… perhaps she was right.

* * *

She had sobbed… almost screamed with relief. It was as if her entire body had given one giant sigh of utter undisturbed joy and she had nearly fainted into the arms of the pink haired med nin, her tears drenching her friend's clothes.

They were all right… they were both all right…

Sitting in the bath with the steam rising and the water pouring down to rip away the grime that had been on her for over a month should have been a moment of utter release. Sakura had insisted that she stay, that she not run to Sasuke and Hanabi in desperation, that she think hard…

They would have a lot to say.

Sakura's green eyes had stared into her own knowingly. She needed to collect herself, as much as them, assess where she was.

She had no idea where she was.

All the water did was reveal the severe damage to her body. Purplish bruises still that spread all along her back between her shoulder blades to curl around her neck where a necklace of Itachi's grip was left.

Scratches covered her all over, the scabs sometimes infected with the grit that the healers had attempted to scrub off. But they could only do so much with a still and unresponsive body.

"…I am broken." Hinata admitted to herself softly, feeling vaguely like perhaps she had the right to cry.

The bruises that lined her mouth were the ones she flinched at the most in the mirror. Itachi and Orochimaru's kiss still tainted the taste of her mouth, like blood and vile odors that still clung to her skin.

Scrubbing at her flesh with the soap stone had done little to rid of the sense of their touch… or their smell.

It was all over her, she was claimed, even if they had not taken her greatest treasure from her, they had still claimed her like animals, their scent infused with her hair and her hands, and her lips.

She didn't know what to do with it, so silently she shunned it, turning her mind away from it, focusing on the prospect of seeing Sasuke…

Of touching him, feeling him….

…_I need him to cleanse me._

She did not mind his smell, or his touch, or his taste.

_I need him. _

The sun was setting when she stepped out into her room. Clothes were laid out on the bed, Sakura had left them behind. She had promised to say nothing to the others until Hinata felt she was ready to receive them.

"I'll even keep it from Naruto, promise." Sakura had nodded, knowing that the blonde was the most likely to spill the beans.

Hinata had only smiled weakly in return. The expression had felt so strange on her face that she had frowned on reflex afterwards, rubbing at her sore muscles with unsteady hands.

_I need him. _

Peering through the walls of her room had been no trouble, aside from a slight headache induced from the use of her Byakugan.

The memory of her last encounter with her bloodline had made the beat of her heart quicken slightly in response, but that too had been pushed slightly aside.

The halls were surprisingly quiet, not a soul anywhere. Pushing past that had not been at all her intention, she had no interest in spying on her friends.

She just needed to get out…

Leaving a note on the bed for Sakura to find in the morning she had slipped out, down the hallway.

She has asked where Sasuke was… and how he was, and bluntly she had been answered.

It didn't take long to reach the door, to stare at it in silence, her lavender eyes filling with tears as she peered through the wood at him with her Byakugan.

The sun was filling the room in a brilliant shade of red and orange, filtering through the thick locks of his hair as he stared down at book in his hands, looking like he had every intention of reading it…

But his eyes had that distant look she had noticed before, a long time ago…He wasn't paying attention.

Swallowing softly she closed her eyes, taking the doorknob in her hands, turning it expertly to see if it was locked.

The door cracked open. Breathing in softly, she pushed through, shivering in her skin, dangerously aware of the stench of Itachi and Orochimaru on her flesh.

Praying he would not notice she kept going.

* * *

**_Warning: Lemon Ahead. Skip to the VERY last paragraph if you wish to avoid. _**

* * *

The door opened without there being any knock. He stared up at it, holding his book in his hands ready to drop the thing and reach for his kunai if he needed to. No one entered a shinobi's room without a fair warning.

However Hinata's pale eyes caught his attention. The long cascade of black hair he knew so well followed her small form as she pressed her back against he door, closing it softly.

For what seemed like eternity neither of them moved, the stillness and utter reality of their situation was over whelming.

Addiction to another person is something you only truly realize when you've been deprived of the long needed presence.

Slowly the once cold Avenger lowered his book to the table, studying her changed features with care. With the bath and a change of clothes as well as Sakura's careful healing she could now see the changes in her face and eyes. There was wariness there to replace the wide eyed innocence of before, and a familiar tightness to her lips that he had seen in the mirror many times before.

Abruptly she stepped up to him, burying her face in his shirt, her fingers grasping the soft hair of the nape of his neck, soft tears staining his shirt as she cried, as always in silence.

"Sasuke…"

Her voice saying his name was sweeter than anything he had heard in weeks. Body trembling feverishly he tightened his hold on the thing most precious to him, kissing her neck gently, fingers erasing bruises left along despite Sakura's healing.

The Hyuuga heiress gasped softly in surprise, looking up at him intently. "Your hands…" She whispered, looking down as his fingers slid across her arm, a bracelet of dark purple spots vanishing as green chakra glowed gently.

"I learned some things for you… while you were away…" he whispered as her eyes returned to him. "I knew you would… be hurt. I wanted to help heal you myself."

"Hinata's gaze over flowed slowly, a torrent of tears sliding down her cheeks. She sniffed softly, reaching up to touch his cheek.

_Heal me… please… cleanse me…_

"Sasuke…" she whispered, searching his face. "I need you to do something for me."

His silence was her answer, surprisingly patient eyes focused on her face. She had never asked for anything… for her he would cross hell itself…

"I need… I need you to…" she began, struggling the words leaving her mouth hesitantly as the desire for his voice intensified.

"Claim me..." she whispered unsure of how he would react, if he would understand.

Slowly she looked up to meet his dark eyes, startled by the patience and veiled fury there. Only because she knew him well could she see it.

"…did they…?" he began, swallowing so hard it hurt. The unfinished sentence brought tears to her eyes. Slowly she looked down, making his heart ache so sharply he thought he would collapse.

"…not… well… they… she began, closing her eyes sharply as images and sensations intensified in her mind's eye.

Tongues sliding across her flesh, fingers pushing against delicate painful skin, lips roughly and venomously gentle taking her mouth, exploring her as if she owned it all…

The mental screams of "NO!" in her mind forced her to open her eyes, lips trembling, shaking her head as his hands took her face gently, forcing her to look up at him. He searched her tear filled eyes, swallowing the angry knot in his throat.

"They hurt you."

"Sasuke, please…" she whimpered, body pressing into him, she hadn't realized her breathing was so heavy or her skin so feverish, reacting to his hands sliding to her hips.

He looked unsure, caught at a cross road, his body aching to take her as much as his heart did, but if he hurt her … he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

"Hinata…" he began slowly, startled as she pushed herself up to her toes, lips grazing the delicate flesh under his jaw, tears sliding from her cheek to his.

Her voice shook as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Please… heal me… take me… wash them away… I can still feel them, I can still smell them on me… Orochimaru… I-Itachi…" her voice broke, sobbing softly her arms tightened around him.

"Please… please…"

Shivering hands slid up her back, pressing into the thin cloth of the shirt she had been given. Whimpering still she slid her lips along his neck, listening to the breathing, the masculine smell of pine, ash, roses and soap that clung to him at all times startling her senses, sending shivers of awed thirsty delight down her back.

_Love me… please…love me… _

"I don't want to hurt you…" his voice drew her out of her daze, the ragged sound of his breathless gasp, the feel of his body overpowering her common sense.

"You won't." there was steady reassurance there, in her voice. Licking her sore bruised lips she pulled back, aching for his kiss.

_Erase Itachi from me, erase him… _

Dark Uchiha eyes stared into her, so different from the murderer's own gaze. He was full of wild emotion, clearly visible as she looked back at him, desperate.

Reigning himself in as hard as he could he reached out, softly worn fingers tracing the addicting skin of her lips.

The heiress felt her eyes closing, the warmth of chakra pouring out of him, healing the bruises and scrapes on her face making her let out a sigh.

His breath on her lips was the next thing she felt, startling her eyes open, falling into his gaze again.

"I loved you first… there's nothing to reclaim but what is already mine…"

Hungrily they kissed, both of them shocked by the animalistic force behind their actions. Panting heavily already Hinata whispered sweet nothings, feeling his hands working to loosen the buttons of her shirt, walking her backwards until her feet hit the edge of his bed.

There was a part of her that could not believe it, stunned into silence, watching from a distance. He slowly pulled the cloth from her shoulders, staring at her the way a dehydrated man in a desert stared at water.

Inch by inch the black shirt slid down from her shoulders, his lips kissing each uncovered bit, eyes focused on her wide eyed gaze, the innocence was tingeing the corners of her eyes again. Her cheeks flushed a deep red whether from shyness or the lingering heat of their bodies he did not know.

The curves of her body uncovered for him to claim, with only a black chest band wrapped around her as his obstacle, his breathless gasp against her skin making her arms wrap around him. Eyes closed, shivering with each touch she pushed against his fingers gently. The rough skin of his worn hands against the smoothness of her neck and bare back making her whimper softly with pleasure.

The whimper was the most satisfying sound he had ever heard, making his head swim with dizzy thoughts about her hair, her lips, her skin, her eyes…

Kissing her again he sat her down, startled suddenly as her arms wrapped around his neck, dragging him down with her, kisses delivered to the most sensitive places along his neck. The soft caresses rained down on his hot aching flesh, her fingers moving steadily to pull his shirt over his head. Skin to skin the burning torch forcing a sound so wanton from her mouth that the hair on the back of his neck rose on end, lips catching hers quickly, wanting to hear that desperate hungry cry again.

He had thought that he knew her… that there was little hidden in those innocent pearl eyes. That all he needed to do was to master her. He had thought wrong.

Energetic power flowed under her skin, the powerful muscles of her body challenging him to keep up as they fought for dominance, evenly matched in their quest to inflict more pleasure on one another. His fingers were burning with chakra, healing each bruise revealed to him as articles of clothing began to fall to the floor like the Sakura blossoms off summer trees.

Sweat slid between their pressed bodies, tears of relief mixing into slowly healing wounds that dotted their pale skin.

She could smell him, his sweet essence starting to wipe away the stench of Akatsuki's fingers and tongues on her flesh.

His voice was drowning out their laughter in her head, his lips, his tongue, washing away their lingering taste in her mouth.

"Sasuke… Sasuke, Sasuke…' she whispered, a burning feeling starting below her stomach, the eternal flush of her cheeks did not compare to the fire there.

Arms wrapped tightly around one another he pulled her up, letting out a stunned gasp as she wrapped her legs around his waist, burying her face in the crook of his neck, breathing him in.

"…please…" her breathless voice let out a whisper.

"I love you… I do… I love you..." his voice was fragile, a sound she had never heard, making a painful feeling bloom in her chest, she couldn't seem to find a way to express it, that ache.

Gasping softly she looked up him, reaching up with shaking fingers to wipe away what she thought for a moment to be tears, but knew otherwise. It was sweat, the heat of their bodies making her long ebony locks curl slightly.

"…thank you…" she whispered, kissing his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his lips. "Thank you for loving me back as much as I love you…"

It was not often that words find a way to become actions, actions and movement and touch so painfully passionate that the line between the two opposites pleasure and pain blurs.

But at least one of the few words that can change and become a movement, a touch, a scream of pleasure and a gasp for the sweet scent of another…

Is love.

* * *

**_One more chapter I believe. _**

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**_Long one too _**

****

**_And then a prologue, and then we're done. _**

****

**_I didn't read over the lemon…cuz it was scary to write and even more frightening to read, lol. Don't tease! I've never written one before, and it's hard and makes one flush and flustered. _**

****

**_-inky _**


	10. Chp 9: Softer

**_Well my darlings, it seems that we are nearing the end of our story. _**

**_This is the last chapter, with a prologue to follow (maaaan, you guys are gonna love the prologue) _**

**_Please leave me some love, ne? I mean, come on… last chapter and all that jazz. Boost my reviews! _**

**_Sweetness of it all, I like this part best, it's the fluff infested stuff! _**

**_So, be nice, leave me a note _**

**_-inky _**

* * *

The havoc that ensued at the discovery of the missing kunoichi was one to be remembered. It was of course mainly because the person who came to the realization that she was missing was (unfortunately) the loud blonde Kyuubi vessel. 

"CRAP!!!"

The door to the infirmary was flung open with enough force to knock it into the wall, cracking the solid stone and making several of the Konoha ninja on the floor jump out of bed, tumbling out the door in P.J's or not, it didn't matter.

"What?!" Kiba shouted back, sliding into the hall where Hinata's room was to find Naruto looking around with a dangerous expression on his face.

Kiba himself looked ridiculous in light blue boxers dotted with happy smiling suns and poofy white clouds.

A smart aleck comment concerning Shikamaru and Kiba's boxers formed for half a moment in Naruto's head before being shoved away in his panic.

"Hinata is gone!" he shouted back at the wolf boy, making Kiba flinch and spin around only to run head long into Ino and Tenten and Shino, who he was heading to wake up.

A pile of arms and legs ensued in which the girls were trying to figure out who was touching their ass and who was touching their chest and who's head they would have to beat in as a result.

Neji Hyuuga came out as the rabble on the floor twisted and turned, followed by Hanabi who stared with huge eyes at the ensuing mess and the many curses being shouted out in the fight.

Sighing her cousin placed his hands expertly over her ears, rolling his bland lavender eyes to the ceiling as non other than his girlfriend informed Kiba how many kunai she could shove up his ass if he didn't remove his hand from 'her' ass. (though he was actually cheering her on, of course)

"What in the hell-" Sakura began, being the last one to arrive, staring at them all with eyes so huge they gobbled up most of her face.

"Sakura! Hinata is gone!" Naruto shouted, grabbing his girlfriend's arm and dragging her half asleep into the infirmary where Hinata was supposed to be.

Sakura stared at the empty bed, swallowing several guilty knots of worry before turning around and beginning to yell at everyone else to bloody well shut up.

This of course helped nothing, and only called the attention of the sand siblings who had been trying to sleep on the floor above. As can be expected Temari and Kankuro were not pleased with the screams so early in the morning and joined the rabble in the only satisfied manner that shinobi can.

And no one noticed the little note on the bed in Hinata's neat writing telling them all where she was….

* * *

Bright dawn light spilled into the room, casting pinks and yellows and bright oranges to dance on the opposite wall and door. 

Hinata let out a soft breath, studying the dancing light through her lashes, feeling far too comfortable to move, let alone ponder that it was morning.

Her mind however was very much aware that this second waking was a lot more pleasant than the first. Her body wasn't sore, for one, and she felt like she had actually slept… unlike every other time in the last few weeks.

And also she was very much aware that there was a pair of arms wrapped around her, and the soft sleepy breath of someone she loved very much tickling her neck.

Smiling in genuine comfort and bashful delight she played with the fingers on Sasuke's right hand, noting that her hand still had the ring he had given her wrapped tightly around her finger.

Despite it all, she had not lost it. A satisfied sigh escaped her, drawing Sasuke from the first deep sleep he had had in as many weeks as her.

Blinking surprisingly sleepy onyx eyes he smirked, pressing his lips against the back of her neck and drawing out a very satisfying 'meep!' of surprise from the girl in his arms.

Tsk-ing under her breath Hinata turned, still unable to keep the blazing blush from over powering her face the moment she looked at him.

"…hi." She mumbled, squinting through the light pouring in from behind him, opening one eye against it fitfully.

Sasuke felt his lips twitch, attempting not to grin too broadly at just how cute she was.

"Good morning." He replied, attempting to sound put together, but his voice wobbled with the amusement, making Hinata wrinkle her nose at him, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"I can hardly see you, the light is so bright." She replied, excusing her odd faces.

"Hn." He replied, pushing a lock of dark hair from her face so he could study her better. The play of light on her eyes was surprisingly fascinating.

Blinking at him in a slightly flustered puzzled manner Hinata smiled weakly, studying him with as much care as he was studying her.

"Did you sleep well?" she finally enquired, restraining a small yawn.

Sasuke nodded, catching her hand when she tried to cover up the sleepy gesture. "Better than I have in a long time…"

"Me too."

The ring on her hand glittered as the sun hit it, the miniature stones tucked into the center of each flower in the design glinting softly.

"…so, when do I get to marry you, anyway?" he finally asked, turning to look up at her with a smirk.

Hinata knew that tone, and it made her shiver with that odd delight that only utter happiness and relief can bring.

It felt a little odd to think that despite all the misery she had endured, it was making the current moment all the sweeter for it.

"Whenever you so wish, of course." She replied, grinning like an utter fool and feeling not at all ashamed of it.

"Good." Sasuke replied primly, very satisfied with her reply. Rather needy for her touch he dragged her in, making a little 'oof!" of surprise to escape her as he pulled her into his arms again, happy to find that her body fit his like a missing puzzle piece.

"Ne, ne…" she began, lying her head on his chest comfortably, listening to the beating heart inside. "Neji-kun, the council and Otou-san are going to be problematic obstacles, you know."

Sasuke allowed himself a small scoff, playing his hands through the curtain of black hair that spilled onto the bedside. "With us together, do you really think they stand a chance?"

Hinata blinked, considering their many achievements as a pair so far.

"Never mind, we'll crush them to dust."

"I'm glad you think so."

For a few minutes they lapsed into quiet thinking, each of them quite comfortable and with no intentions of getting up.

That thought of course brought Hinata back to the note she had left on the bedside in the infirmary.

"…I don't want to get up." She complained quietly, allowing a small note of whining to slip into her voice.

Sasuke smirked slightly, tightening his hold on her. "Don't then."

"…demo…" she sighed, dramatically turning to lean her chin against his chest so she could look at him. "…they're going to look for me, actually if I hadn't left a note they would probably start panicking."

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a very loud. "CRAP!!" that echoed down from the end of the hall.

Startled the two shinobi sat up sharply, despite being tangled in sheets.

"What the-"

"That was Naruto-" Hinata began.

Another shout sounded, the voice registering as Kiba, followed by a loud and very obnoxious rabble like explosion.

"I thought you left a note." Sasuke prompted, turning to look at Hinata with a quirked brow. Hinata looked back at him, wide eyed, her hair a mess and looking sleepy still.

He couldn't help but kiss her before she replied, startling the answer to his statement right out of her mind.

"Tch!" she grunted, as he shoved himself out of bed. "If you do that I'll never be able to talk! I can't remember what I was going to say now!"

"Did you just 'tch' me?" Sasuke blinked, glancing at her as he shoved his shirt over his head.

Hinata started, a little puzzled by her expressions. _Tch_ was very much a thing that he said.

As well as _Hn_, and _Hn_ had become part of her daily vocabulary.

"You did too…" he began, allowing himself a smug little smirk. Hinata pouted, sticking her tongue out at him before looking around the bed with the sheets tangled around her for her clothing.

A sudden silence from the hall made Sasuke hiss at her to pay attention. Puzzled she looked up from tugging her bra out from under the bed.

"…it's really quiet…" she whispered, making the Uchiha nod warily.

A knock, loud and booming on the door tottered Hinata off balance as she jumped in surprise and made her land with an 'eep!' of surprise on the floor.

"Ouch!" she grumbled, ignoring Sasuke trying not to chuckle as he walked towards the door.

"What are you doing?!" she whispered urgently, making him stop. Pondering exactly what he was doing he turned back to the door. Clearing his throat he called through it instead.

"What?"

"Uchiha, if my cousin is in there I'm gonna-" Neji's voice began, only to be cut off by Naruto who was obviously telling him to mind his own business. While the two squabbled about something or other Sakura's voice called sheepishly through the door.

"Uh… do you know where Hinata is then, Sasuke-kun?"

Blushing a thousand shades of red Hinata dived into the blankets, hiding under the piles of cloth.

Sasuke blinked, having lost location of the half dressed kunoichi.

"Uh…" he began, distracted.

"Oh EW!" Hanabi's voice shouted through the door. "She's definitely in there."

Hinata, hiding under the blankets started, realizing there were two Byakugan users on the other side of the door.

Sasuke spun around to face the door as well, realizing that at the exact same moment.

"HEY!" the both shouted, suddenly very offended by the violation of their privacy.

Silence replied and then quite abruptly the sound of a small struggle which Sasuke was certain involved Neji trying to break down the door, Naruto, Kiba and Shino trying to stop him, and the girl's yelling at them all to stop.

"Get dressed." Sasuke stated, turning around to find Hinata already shoving herself into her pants, hopping a little as she stuffed on leg in.

"Hai, hai!" she gasped, turning around to find that her shirt was ripped. She lifted up the obviously damaged article of clothing with a look of puzzled confusion on her face.

"…now how did that happen?"

Sasuke sighed, listening as the struggle on the other side of the door intensified.

"Here." He stated, ripping his shirt off and tossing it at her. "Unless you want them all to run in with you wearing only your bra."

Without even bothering to retort, Hinata slipped the shirt over her head, blushing furiously, allowing herself just one half hearted glare in his direction.

Sasuke only smirked, amused by the prospect of pissing Neji off more.

Finally giving him the nod of agreement Hinata walked up to the door just as he opened it.

And then they stared.

Neji was in a head lock with Naruto, Kiba and Shino.

Tenten was pulling Naruto back by the collar of his shirt, cutting off his air. Ino had her arms wrapped around Kiba, pulling him backwards as well.

Sakura was guarding Hanabi who still hadn't healed yet, and Shikamaru, was talking to Temari and Kankuro at the end of the hall… all three looking out of place with their calmness.

"Ano…" Hinata began, her eyes huge.

For a second everyone froze in their place, obviously startled into silence by the sound of her voice being heard for the first time in weeks.

That did not distract Neji however, from the fact that Sasuke was shirtless and Hinata was wearing 'his' shirt.

"What in the HELL!" he shouted, followed by a drowning cry of "Hinata!" from the others.

Obviously startled Hinata stumbled back as the girl's rushed to clomp her. Sasuke only managed to step back in time so as to not loose an arm… or leg.

Hanabi refused to act so childish, instead sulking. (truth be told, she couldn't hug anyone, she didn't have an arm)

"I told you." she grunted smugly as chaos ensued while everyone shouted at each other.

Sasuke glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, watching with care that the pile of rabid girls didn't hurt his fiancé.

"Right." He admitted, smirking.

His eyes trailed back to Hinata who was the center of attention, Ino, Sakura and Tenten shouting and asking a lot of questions, some of which were making her blush a bright scarlet. He assumed they had to do with the fact that she was half dressed and in his room.

But that didn't really capture his attention as much as the smile that was plastered on her face.

He wanted that smile to remain there forever… and he'd do everything he could now, to make that happen.

It would be easier too, now that he had fulfilled his promise to his family. There was room to become softer…

* * *

**_One Month Later _**

The kimono she was wearing was far more expensive than she knew. Had she known it was likely that she wouldn't have dared to wear it. The servants of course knew so and managed through some ingenious lies to keep the real price from ever leaving their lips.

Layers and layers of beautiful silks and lavender scented cloth was slowly draped over Hinata-hime's slender form.

The chatter of the servant girls running about pulling at loose bits of string, redoing random stitches, pinning her hair up in intricate knots and covering her in sweet smelling liquids was a dizzying experience.

Wide eyed Hinata turned again, standing on a stool so she was about a foot taller than everyone in the room.

"N-nani? There's another layer left?" she stuttered, watching as they pulled yet another robe from the closet.

The kimono was something of utter beauty even she couldn't resist. Layers of purple and blue silk had been wrapped tightly around her until she could hardly breathe, modified by Ino's careful hands to make sure that they outline her 'killer figure' as the young blonde had stated, making Hinata turn a bright shade of red.

Sakura Ino and Tenten had abandoned her to the care of her servants when she had entered the Hyuuga household for the first time since arriving at home.

_"It only makes sense that you get ready for your wedding at your old house." Ino had begun, pushing her slightly from behind. _

_Tenten had nodded, tight buns bobbing with her movement, her hands wrapped around her friend's arm as she pulled her forward too towards the giant gates of the Hyuuga compound. _

_"The elder told Neji she would be delighted to attend as your mother." _

_"M-my mother!?" Hinata gasped softly, sounding vaguely offended though so confused she could hardly function. _

_Sakura, on her other side was pulling her arm as well, pushing the rosy cheeked and still sleepy heiress along. They had kidnapped her at the break of dawn to get her ready. Sasuke had made a point not to intervene for fear of loosing his life. _

_Hanabi was walking in front of the, grinning that wolfish recognizable grin of a younger sister. "And Otou-san didn't even say he didn't care, he said he wanted you home for your wedding, so they could go through all the ceremony of sending off the heiress and daughter of the Hyuuga Household, how about that?" _

_"I think Hiashi's pretty much become the Hokage's little bitch, that's what I think." Ino grunted with displeasure, still very irritated by the mention of the cold man who had made her friend's life so miserable. _

_Hanabi and Hinata flashed her twin looks of dislike which was enough to render her into silence. Still, the moment was broken by the gates being flung open and a horde of servants storming out, already fussing about bathing her and who knows what else. _

_"D-d-demo! What about Sasuke?" Hinata gasped, stumbling up the steps as servants examined her hair and muttered about split ends. _

_"Never mind Sasuke!" Tenten grunted. "I sent Neji and the other guys to his house to help." _

_Hinata paled. "…t-to help? The day before the wedding…?" her voice took on a higher pitch. _

_Tenten stared back at all the girls who were looking at her like she had grown an extra head. _

_"What?" _

"Have you got any news from Sasuke-sama?" Hinata enquired to a passing maid she had instructed to send a message to his house. The maid blinked and looked up, turning a bright red as the eyes of her mistress landed on her.

"Oh… ano… I did… and Naruto-dono answered the door… d-demo… I couldn't get a reply…" she mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

Hinata blinked and then flinched as an elderly old servant grabbed her hair and tugged hard, pulling it into a disturbingly difficult knot.

"Ow- wha-what do you mean you couldn't get an answer?" Hinata blinked, letting out a breath and reaching up to smack the old lady's hands away, much against usual character, but when something hurts that bad, you do what you can.

The woman grunted in reply and continued to pull, seemingly unaffected.

"Well… there was…a…sound… like an explosion…" The girl continued, sounding hesitant.

Hinata slipped down onto her stool, moving to bury her face in her hands with a sigh only to have her hands snatched away to get manicured. "They must be destroying the house entirely."

"What does it matter?" The older woman grunted, sounding odd with an utter lack of teeth. "You have enough houses to give board to most of Konoha."

"Tch." Hinata replied, resorting to Sasuke's arrogant reply as a last effort to remain calm.

The door was suddenly flung open and in poured Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hanabi, all of them fussing about each other's hair and nails and dress.

At the sight of Hinata however they stopped.

"Oh my GOD!!" Sakura and Ino squealed, frozen in place, their eyes wide.

Hinata hung her head sadly. "I said it was too much, demo-"

"No no no!" Ino whispered, sounding ready to burst into tears. "You look beautiful."

And she did. Hinata frowned at them a moment, feeling the servants withdrawing, tools of beauty (torture) in their hands.

Sighing heavily she turned to look at the full length mirror to her right and froze.

The kimono had been designed by Ino herself, and made specifically to her size and shape, outlining with clever subtleties the curves that formed Hinata's young body. However, that was forgotten in comparison to the violet, purple, white and lavender design on the dress, small spring flowers dotting the white edges, an obi made of several off white shades tied carefully at her back.

Her hair had been cut to the style of traditional Japanese hime, framing her wide eyes outlined with kohl making them seem bigger and more intense than usual. Her small delicate mouth had been painted just lightly with a pink tinge and a pin was placed into the knot of ebony dark hair, glittering gem studded butterflies holding her locks back from her face.

Hinata let out a soft breath, swallowing a knot in her throat.

_Oka-san… _

"That is definitely a show of Hyuuga power and grace." A new voice stated, making Hinata and everyone else in the room turn to look at the elder at the door, her bland Hyuuga eyes glittering with something like amusement and pride.

"We have an heiress at last."

Hinata felt her cheeks begin to turn red, nervous butterflies starting in her stomach. "A-arigato…" she hesitated for a moment, then swallowed. "…Oba-san."

Hanabi and the others froze again, spinning around to look at the elder. "OBA-SAN?!"

The elder only smiled sadly, nodding. "Come, let us speak to your father, Hinata… he will be shocked to see how much you take after my daughter…and your mother."

* * *

"It doesn't fit."

Shikamaru threw the suit in the general direction of the couch, slouching against the wall, toothpick in his mouth, eyes closed.

Seeing as Naruto and Neji were sprawled on the couch the landing of the clothing forced them both to begin fussing. "The hell- how can it not fit, I thought Ino made it specifically for you!" Naruto grunted, throwing it back.

Kiba, who was more like lying upside down on the nearby chair, watched their antics with a quirked eyebrow.

Several bottles of beer were littering the floor, all of them empty and another case was in the ice box in the kitchen, which they had all raided, of course.

"Well, it doesn't fit, maybe we got them mixed up." Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "This is so troublesome…"

"I don't get why we had to come three hours in advance." Neji grumbled, feeling uncomfortable in the Uchiha household, eyes sliding over the darkly decorated living room and refusing to admit he actually liked the general set up.

"Heh!" Naruto muttered, grabbing another beer and downing half the bottle in a gulp. "The girl's have been with Hinata since **_dawn. _**I'd shut my trap and not complain if I were you."

"…ano. Where is Lee?" Shino enquired suddenly, arms crossed and slouched against the couch.

Neji and Naruto frowned, glancing at each other for a moment, puzzled.

A sound like a little girl shrieking suddenly broke the silence and though they were shinobi and should have jumped to their feet with kunai in hand they didn't. Instead they tensed for a moment and then all in unison let out a long sigh.

Sure enough, within a few seconds of the shriek the sound of Lee's body hitting something more solid than himself could be heard.

"Someone had better go scrape him off the wall…" Shikamaru grunted, closing his eyes in exasperation.

A few seconds after that statement a wave of cold air seemed to fill the room as Sasuke Uchiha himself stormed in, hair wet from having showered and Sharingan fully activated.

"Someone get that green clad nuisance out of my room." He stated thinly, walking purposefully over to the box of ice and pulling out a beer which he drank in four seconds flat.

The guys eyed him warily.

"Uh… you okay?" Naruto enquired, watching the tension across his friend's bare shoulders with slightly mocking interest.

"Shut up." Sasuke grunted, throwing the bottle on the ground and spinning around to go back up the stairs.

Suddenly he stopped, as if realizing something.

"What the hell are you all doing here anyway?" He snapped, getting ready to toss them all out of the house.

Kiba smirked, grunting out a laugh as he slid off the couch onto the floor with a thump.

Shino only sighed, rolling his eyes as the others exchanged slightly curious half amused glances.

"The girl's said something about moral support." He supplied, half helpfully.

Sasuke flinched, literally and physically flinched, making them all start at the show of emotion.

"Support?"

"Do not tell me you're not terrified- you're fucking getting married!" Naruto smirked, stretching comfortably and jumping to his feet. "Sakura sent us over here to make sure you didn't blow your brains out."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Neji snapped, jumping to his feet. "Hinata is probably the best possible choice for anyone, there's no reason for him to blow his brains out!"

At this he suddenly turned to Sasuke, recalling a speech he had yet to deliver.

"If you ever hurt her-" he began, but was suddenly interrupted by a hand shoved into his face, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Save it!" Sasuke muttered, starting up the steps again.

Naruto however was by the steps, munching on something or other he had found in the kitchen.

"Ne, you look as terrified as I expected."

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke continued, pushing past him up the steps, trying to keep himself calm, ignoring Neji's yelling from the living room.

"Dattebayo, I wonder if the girls are having this much fun helping Hinata out." He grumbled, rolling his eyes.

* * *

"Hinata, you look like you're going to pass out."

"If you would stop digging your nails into my arm maybe I wouldn't be so inclined-" Hinata whispered back harshly at Sakura who withdrew her death grip on her friend sheepishly. "Oh."

"It's only Otou-san." Hanabi muttered, cocking an eyebrow as they approached the double doors leading towards the sitting room where her father waited.

"I haven't talked to him since-"

"Since you decided to get married with the Uchiha?" Oba-san suddenly smirked, glancing over her shoulder at the skittish little girl that was to be a wedded wife soon.

"Ano…" Hinata whimpered, looking almost in pain as they approached. "I guess this is necessary, huh?"

Oba-san and everyone else looked at her for a moment, waiting, her grandmother's hands already on the door knobs of the entrance.

"Oh all right." She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Let's go."

With that slight consent Oba-san pushed the doors open, and as was custom led the way into the chamber, followed by Hinata.

Without a word to the others the servant standing by slammed the door, cutting off the crowd of friends, making them start in surprise.

Hinata too looked over her shoulder worriedly only for a moment before flinching and turning to look back at the room.

The right wall had been knocked out to be replaced by glass, looking out into the calming scene of a small pond and a sakura tree, covered over in the slowly melting snows of late February.

The wood flooring was covered over by a very expensive looking carpet with the intricate design of cherry blossoms dancing through the breeze, and shelves covered all of the back walls in multi colored volumes, some as thick as bricks.

Sitting with a traditional tea set in front of him was Hyuuga Hiashi, looking up at his daughter with a slack jawed slightly stunned look on his steadily aging face.

As was custom Hinata and Oba-san bowed, murmuring soft greetings.

"Otou-san." Hinata mumbled, hands clenching unconsciously at her sides.

"…Hinata."

Swallowing nervously the girl looked back up, staring at the man that had for so long made her life miserable, undermined everything the world had tried to teach her, the man who had so ruthlessly destroyed any self worth she had for herself.

His eyes were filling rapidly with tears.

"…Elder." He muttered after a moment, turning to look at Oba-san who nodded, jaw working thoughtfully before she turned to exit.

"I'll be waiting outside."

As the door closed behind her Hinata breathed in deeply, refusing to let the walls shrink in the way they had when she was younger…

Just a year ago, a meeting like this with her father would have been enough to leave her sick with worry all day long.

Now, she was feeling nervous pity…

"Please sit down." Hiashi finally managed, his voice steady as usual, though his eyes lowered to the tea in front of him, and they did not return to meet her gaze.

Hinata complied with a soft "Arigato." And settled herself across from her father calmly, hands on her lap in the lady-like manner that she had never been able to manage before, always fidgeting nervously until her father pointed it out.

So many little things he did, to chip away at her possible might.

The silence stretched on for a long dangerous moment, and feeling more uncomfortable than she had in weeks Hinata cleared her throat softly, turning to look up at him to find him staring at his tea again, entranced.

The moment she opened her mouth to say something and break the silence he spoke, his voice no longer as strong as before.

"…you look just like your mother."

Her mouth snapped closed, surprise making her eyes widen. "..d…do I?"

"Hai." He looked up then, slowly, something like a broken unused smile tingeing his lips. "Exactly. She was just as beautiful."

For a moment Hinata was silent, looking intently at his face, a small painful frown of confusion and disbelief marring her seemingly perfect features.

"Arigato, Hiashi-sa…I mean…Otou-san." She whispered, catching herself at the last moment, blushing a furious red at her mistake.

What an idiot she was, the first time he complimented her and she made such a rude mistake.

Hiashi however took a deep breath and nodded. "I deserved that."

"No, Otou-san. Gomen."

"I never treated you like I should have."

"Otou-san-"

"I've never been what I promised your mother."

"Matte, Otou-san-"

"I could have ruined you, instead I almost ruined this family." The desperation in his voice was nerve wrecking, making her skin crawl. This couldn't be right. Father wasn't like that…

"Otou-san!"

"I killed her."

A sharp breath was snatched, and Hinata stared at him, watching as his hands shook in his lap, still in the polite position that all nobility use.

But they shook, that was the frightening part.

"…n-nani?" she whispered, feeling her eyes water rapidly, flashing images of Oka-san in her mind going so rapidly that it was almost a blur, sometimes she didn't know if those images were of herself or mother.

"…the doctors said that she could have no more children…" he whispered softly, refusing to look up. "…not after you, you were such a difficult birth."

Taking a deep breath Hinata closed her eyes. "It wasn't your fault."

"…I wanted a boy to inherit." He muttered suddenly, making the words sink back into Hinata's mouth halfway through being said.

"I did not push her, but she knew that was what I wanted."

Suddenly she was listening intently, her eyes open, staring at his bowed head, her heart beat racing.

This… she had not been told.

"When she was giving birth to Hanabi we had the chance to choose her or the baby." He closed his eyes.

"…I should have forced them to choose her."

Hinata let out a breath, something like relief taking over her body. She had thought, for half a second, that maybe he truly was to blame.

But no…guilt works in odd ways.

"Hanabi deserved to live as much as she did." Hinata murmured softly, feeling more and more like the adult as each second passed.

"It was my fault, and I'm sorry… I felt I needed to make sure that her sacrifice was worth something. I needed Hanabi to-"

"…be what you expected, and leave me in the dust." Hinata found herself saying, looking out to the snow covered yard with sad eyes. "I know."

Hiashi looked up quickly, swallowing a knot in his throat.

"I shouldn't ask for forgiveness, my daughter. But… it is your wedding day, and I did not feel it would be fair for you to live not knowing…"

"Otou-san." Hinata murmured, turning to him, smiling a sad smile that made his chest ache.

"I have become…stronger, than you." she whispered softly, closing her eyes. "I forgave you long ago, whether you asked for forgiveness or not. Please, do not weigh anyone down with such sad talk today."

Hiashi started, looking at her in surprise, but no anger. He had no more anger to use.

"I came… for your blessing." Hinata added, turning to face him completely again, bowing so that her forehead almost touched the ground.

Hiashi swallowed, smiling in that same sad way she had a few seconds ago. "Arigato, Hinata…" softly he touched her hand. "You have my blessing. I'm sure the Hyuuga Clan is in better hands now than it ever was in mine."

Hinata breathed in softly as she straightened to look at him, staring him directly in the eye. "Things will change, Otou-san. But for the better… I promise."

* * *

It only figured that five minutes before the ceremony the men finally decided it was time to get ready.

"FUCK! Where the hell is my tie!?" Naruto screamed, lifting the couch to look under.

Lee was nursing a serious bump to the head on said couch and landed with a squeak on the floor.

"Stop screaming." Neji muttered, buttoning up his shirt.

"You've got all your clothes; I've reason to complain- Dattebayo!" The blonde stopped, glaring at Kiba who was languidly munching on a hotdog, fully dressed and ready looking quite striking in his suit and tie.

A tie which looked very familiar to the blonde.

"That's mine!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the dark blue object.

Kiba blinked and looked down, cocking an eyebrow. "Really? I thought it looked different- wait then, where's mine?"

"Like I give a damn, give it here!" Naruto cried, rushing forward to snatch it, only to find Kiba had dodged, stuffing the last of his hot dog in his mouth.

"Dattebayo! Kiba!"

"Will you all stop fucking shouting?" Sasuke hissed, storming down the stairs, shoving dark locks of hair out of his face irritably.

He looked more pale than usual and a little past tense. Lee, having already experienced the wrath of a stressed out Sasuke slunk into a corner and began to change… quietly.

"You look like you're having a good day." Shikamaru pointed out uselessly, cocking an eyebrow while loosening the tie around his neck.

"I can't find the ring." Sasuke snapped, pushing Kiba out of the way as he bent down to search through the books on the shelf in the living room.

The room had gone utterly silent, Neji blinking at him along with everyone else.

As if on cue the talkative bunch cried out. "You _lost _it?!"

Sasuke scoffed, ignoring the sweat starting to slide down his face in worry. "No, I just can't find it."

"Oh hell!" Naruto cried, abandoning his wrestling match with Kiba to look for the ring. "This is exactly what Sakura told me to prevent."

"Sakura told you to prevent something?" Shikamaru enquired while poking through the cushions as he searched.

"That'll be the day." Kiba smirked.

As if suddenly realizing just what he was going through Sasuke turned, stopping his search for the ring long enough to grab the bottle of sake that was sitting half empty on the coffee table.

"…fucking hell…" he muttered to himself, downing most of the sake in one gulp. Neji grumbled, walking over and snatching the bottle before he could finish. "You being drunk at my little cousin's wedding is not going to happen."

"Actually, it's _our _wedding, you insolent ass." Sasuke retorted, finding the beer and sake already loosening his tongue quite a bit.

Neji sighed, restraining himself. The urge to kill the groom was becoming excessive. "Let's just calm down for half a moment, the ring has to be here somewhere." Shikamaru stated, sounding like the logical side of their group.

The rest of the young men gave curt nods, except for Sasuke who had snatched the bottle back from Neji's idle hands.

"We'll find it! We have to!" Lee cried suddenly, reappearing in his own dress suit and shiny shoes as reflective as his dark hair.

"No kidding… it's that or all of our heads." Naruto muttered darkly, tossing cushions in all directions.

Trying to ignore the general destruction of his home Sasuke stood, pinching the bridge of his nose before glancing warily at the clock.

As expected the hour was half past late.

"Oh shit."

On cue everyone turned to look at what was making the famous Uchiha Avenger look blue with fright and like him flinched.

"…that clock isn't right…" Shino began slowly, sounding half sure.

Neji on the other hand looked down at his watch, letting what was left of the color in his face to drain away.

"…it's ahead by five minutes."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "…so… we were supposed to be at the Hyuuga compound…ten minutes ago?"

Silence responded for about three seconds.

"SHIT!"

Like the explosion of shinobi muscle and agility that they were the boys burst into chakra infused streaks, turning the house upside down looking for the ring.

After all, it was that, or their heads.

* * *

"**_Where_** are they?" Ino growled, her eyes glittering with cold steel. If any of the poor souls that passed by glanced at her face they quickly looked away. She had even managed to make one of Hinata's very young cousins burst into tears.

Sakura patted her lightly on the shoulder, straining to remain calm herself. "I'm sure they're on their way, and anyway, the ceremony doesn't start for another half hour."

Letting out a frustrated huff Ino plopped down on a white chair in the Hyuuga's garden. The wedding ceremony was to be held in their backyard, which was hardly a backyard in comparison to usual backyards.

There was a pond for one thing in one corner of the place, and little trickling streams that webbed out throughout the entire lush area splashed here and there with the coverings of late winter snow.

Buds were slowly turning green on all the trees and the entire area was lit by glowing lanterns and candles that either hung from the branches of the foliage or were drifting along the water on small wooden boards.

The path to the altar was marked by a long white stream of petal sprinkled cloth and on either side were white chairs, each isle marked by a flickering candle sending dancing shadows in all directions.

Behind the altar itself, past the roof of the Hyuuga compound's main house the sun could be seen, slowly making it's way downward towards the mountains and the sea beyond.

The guests had begun to trickle in from the white gates at the back of the Hyuuga's estate, led in by a servant and escorted to the waiting areas where they could be served warm tea, sake or chocolate for the little ones.

Sakura, Tenten, Ino and Hanabi had been scurrying around for the last half hour getting everything prepared for Hinata, for the girl wasn't allowed to leave her room until it was time and the violinist began to play.

But it was almost time and they were missing a very important part of the ceremony.

The groom.

Pacing like a caged lion Ino turned to find Tenten standing there, fidgeting. "Have the boys arrived yet?"

Sakura and Ino shook their heads, jaws clenched.

Sighing heavily Tenten slapped a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes as if asking some God above for patience. "Oh geez… Neji is usually very reliable…"

"Reliable?" Hanabi stated suddenly, walking towards them, all in a huff in her high heels and formal dress. "This is Sasuke we're talking about, the only thing my dear cousin can be relied on to do concerning Sasuke Uchiha is to kill him."

"Oh…." Ino whined, twisting a handkerchief in her hands feverishly. "You don't think they went and got into a fight do you… I mean, we've never left them all alone together… like… ever!"

"That's it!" Sakura cried, pulling her fighting gloves out of her miniature little purse and pulling them on as she stalked through the garden in her stilettos and skirt. "I'm gonna go and-"

"We're here!!" Naruto's voice shouted suddenly, and a crowd of black suits suddenly poured in through the gates, making the girl's freeze, blinking at them in surprise.

The rest of the guests glanced at them thoughtfully before returning to their conversations, giving Sakura the moment to stalk up to her lover boy.

"Naruto." She smiled sweetly, walking up to him and pinching his arm hard. "Where the hell have you all been?!" she whispered.

"Teme here couldn't find the fucking ring!" Naruto hissed back, resisting the urge to scream.

Sasuke stepped up from behind him suddenly, giving him a vague shove. "Move, dobe." He grunted, shoving a lock of hair from his face with the hand in which he clenched the box with the ring in it.

"Lucky I was there, or he would have never found it." Neji supplied modestly, receiving a vivid glare from the Uchiha.

"Okay, okay." Tenten soothed quickly. "It's almost time, so… let's just all take a deep breath and… uh… Sasuke are you all right?"

At this everyone turned to look at the pale Avenger who was turning a little blue again. "I'm fine." He replied, sounding a little out of breath.

Sakura and Naruto glanced at each other, wide eyed.

"All right, come along." Sakura muttered, shoving her way through the crowd, towing both boys along by the arms.

"I'm fine." Sasuke repeated, and yet found he wasn't resisting her dragging him like a child to the corner with the least amount of people nearby.

The lights from the floating candles on the pond were distracting, sending flickering dancing light up to meet his eyes. It was beautiful and he knew that Hinata had designed the entire thing because he was useless when it came to beautiful things, but he couldn't focus on it.

He had a ring in his hand… and he was going to be **_married._**

**_Married. _**

"Oh Kami." He stated softly, rubbing his face with one hand.

Sakura turned him sharply to face her, taking his shoulders gently. "Sasuke. You're my friend, I know this must be a little scary."

"I'm fine." He replied dryly, wishing he could get water somewhere… it was really hot all of a sudden.

"…it's okay to be nervous." She continued, trying to make her voice soothing.

"I'm fine." He repeated, glancing over his shoulder at all the white eyed Hyuugas glancing in his direction with curious or murderous expressions.

"We're here to support you, and trust me, I'm sure you'll be fine." Sakura continued, stopping only when Naruto jumped in.

"Eh… Sakura… I think you're making him look a little more blue."

"How's Hinata?" Sasuke stated suddenly, turning to look at them.

Sakura blinked, startled. "…w-well. She's fine, I mean- oh crap! I have to go make sure she's fine!" gasping she turned around, sprinting away on her stilettos to find her friend before she made her big debut as a bride.

Sasuke and Naruto stared after her, both of them wide eyed.

"…well…"Naruto began stupidly, swallowing hard.

"Don't say anything." Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes and asking for some hidden calm within him.

"No problem." The blonde smirked, patting him on the back. They stood in silence for a moment, Sasuke trying to find his mind for it had run off somewhere, and Naruto studying his thoroughly freaked out friend.

"You know…" Naruto began after a moment, feeling a smirk tug at his lips. "This is probably the one time in my life that I will see you freak out."

"I'm not freaking out."

"You've proven me right."

Sasuke cussed softly, knowing the blonde was correct and loathing every second of it.

"I'm sure that you'll forget about all this when you see her." The blonde continued, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his suit and smiling vaguely at the fashionable crowd of nobility and friends that was there to view the binding of two people who were once a world apart.

Sasuke blinked, turning to look at him thoughtfully.

The Kyuubi vessel turned to look at him, flashing him a quick goofy grin. "She's what this is all about, isn't it?"

Licking his dry lips Sasuke frowned, looking down at the box in his hand in which resided the ring he would put on her finger. She would wear it forever, if she wanted… and it would mean she was his and he was hers for just as long.

_What am I worried about? _

In his daze he found himself being let to the altar, where he stood, feeling vaguely self conscious and a little nervous, but just like the dobe said… things changed.

The sun was setting, it's golden hue flowing over the top of the household roof and lighting up the sparkles in her hair.

It was like she had appeared out of the light rather than from the gate, dressed in a white kimono tinged lavender, bright eyes growing brighter still when they focused on his, her lips pulling into a shy smile.

And suddenly it didn't really matter…it didn't matter how long it would take, or how uncomfortable he would be, or how many relatives he would have to be polite to during the entire day…or life.

She'd be there, smiling, and he'd be there with her, with her hand in his.

That was enough. You did not have to be as hard as steel to be happy, or fulfilled or satisfied.

Softer things, like her hands, or her kiss… softer things made him…

…happy.

* * *

**_Last chapter, kiddies_**

**_I have the prologue to follow and then that's it. _**

**_I hope you enjoyed this fic, i know the ending felt a little rushed, but that's just how it came out of me. i guess the characters were in a hurry_**

**_Anyway, please leave me some love, ne!?_**

**_-inky_**


	11. Epilogue: Meet the Chibis

**_Prologue _**

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**_This is the end of the SasuHina tale, my darlings _**

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**_Leave me a review, pwease? _**

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**_I enjoyed storytelling this very much. I hope you all enjoyed it too. _**

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**_Ciao! _**

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Years had been kind to the Uchihas. The Village Hidde in the leaves had gained once more a clan respected in all ways, and though it was a small clan it was sure to wield great power in the generations to come. Everyone knew it, and everyone love them, even if they did not show it or even know it.

The generation of the Rookie Nine had indeed proved to be one of the most powerful in all of history. With the union of Hyuuga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke it seemed that everyone else was inclined to follow in their steps, the marriages falling into place almost one after the other, some with only a few months between them.

Sakura and Naruto became naturally the next in line, Neji and Tenten surprised everyone by following in their footsteps. Close behind them were Ino and Shikamaru, surprising everyone a thousand times over, considering Ino's often bitter comments about being single.

Apparently she had had to wait until Temari was out of her hair, being more polite in her waiting for Shikamaru than most people expected of her.

The one that surprised everyone the most was Hanabi…who did not marry but became Anbu captain at the young age of 16, making even Neji feel slightly inadequate from time to time.

Time did pass, slowly at first, with life being just another day in another week in another month. Things do change, and slowly but surely memory of grotesque realities were hidden away in boxes within each heart, only to be remembered in the darkness of night in the arms of someone they loved.

After all the way of a shinobi is never one with a happy ending lacking in any darkness to equal out the light, for there must be shadow for light to exist.

Still, such things had become the talk of sad times, of rare sad days when other more important things could be forgotten.

And those days were indeed rare… for the things that needed to be forgotten, were very hard to forget indeed…

**_BOOM!_**

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A flock of geese shot up in the sky, feathers flying in every direction on the Uchiha estate, dotting the lush green grass and meadow overlooked by a willow tree in the white fluff.

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata jumped in shock, almost knocking over the patio table that held all their tea cups. The breakable china was worth more than a year's wages for a normal worker but Sakura and Hinata in particular didn't really give a damn at that moment, shooting up so fast the men could hardly keep up, running in the direction of the meadow.

Youth had yet to leave their faces, for there were no wrinkles there, though frowns of worry could be seen traced between their brows and their hair, unlike years before was pulled up away from their faces to keep it from being tugged playfully.

Wearing comfortable, less fashionable clothes than before the two kunoichi reached the meadow just in time, rushing over the water in their chakra infused feet to snatch the shrieking bodies of a small children as they fell from the branches of a willow, covered in feathers and tree sap.

Hinata and Sakura stopped, still standing on the water, panting slightly and wide eyed with worry.

"Ryuu!" Hinata whispered, pulling back the hood of the child's sweater to look at the boy's face.

Pearly white skin and very distinctive eyes met her own lavender gaze. The boy had a shock of black hair, a mane to rival her own, full lips pulled into a teary pout and tear filled eyes that still rendered most people silent.

For they were the epitome of Uchiha and Hyuuga power, a mix of the two most powerful gazes ever to be found in shinobi history.

The boy's eyes were a light lavender streaked with black iris, dotted at the center with a violet pupil smudging into red at the edges, showing signs already of a Sharingan hidden within.

"Gomen, Oka-san…" he whispered softly, wide eyed, "The goose took Sora's bracelet, so I used a jutsu on them…"

At this a loud bawling could be heard from Sakura's arms where a little girl with a mane of blonde hair streaked pink sobbed into her mother's arms, aqua green eyes streaming tears like a river.

"Otou-san gave it to me! Oka-san, my bracelet, my bracelet!"

Sakura sighed, pushing a lock of pink hair back from her face, smiling weakly at Hinata who just grinned back bemusedly, cuddling the scratched and frightened toddler to her chest.

"I'll buy you another one, darling." Sakura hushed softly, walking back towards the meadow's bank slowly, trying to calm the crying child.

"What's the matter?" Naruto cried from the edge, looking more flustered than the child herself.

"Otou-san!" Sora cried suddenly, arms outstretched. The moment Sakura passed her over she was clinging, sobbing so hard her little body shook with each breath.

Sasuke glanced over at his best friend while he tried to calm his child before looking at Hinata and Ryuu, who were a lot quieter than the other pair.

"What happened?" he asked softly, reaching out to push a lock of Ryuu's hair from his face.

The little boy sniffed softly, then rubbed the tears away, stubbornly trying to control himself.

Hinata only looked up at her son thoughtfully, waiting patiently for him to explain. Taking the cue little Ryuu breathed in to steady himself, already forgetting the fright of nearly falling from the tree.

"Ano…t-the goose." He started slowly, straining not to stutter. "He took Sora-chan's bracelet, so I…I climbed the tree a-after him, and we fell-"

"Tsk." Hinata cut in quickly, making him start and then blush a brilliant scarlet that would put his own mother to shame.

"Oh…ano…I u-used a jutsu…" he mumbled sheepishly, pushing his fingers together in a manner that was very familiar.

Sasuke sighed, glancing at Hinata for assurance about possible punishment. Receiving a weak little smile in return he turned back to his son, rubbing away a tear still lingering on his face.

"Very heroic, I'm sure. However, using jutsu before you've been taught them in the Academy is against the rules, correct?"

Ryuu swallowed, giving a soft nod. He had been in trouble many times for reading books from his parent's library and trying out some of the things in them.

Sasuke and Hinata were the exceptional couple with the trouble of having a toddler who could not only read, but could breath out a relatively small flame from time to time.

Sasuke had had to lock away his notes on Katon from then on.

"No chocolate cake for you." Hinata sighed, putting him down with a soft pat to his head. "Demo," she added, crouching down and planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek that made him giggle despite himself. "I'm very proud of you."

"Is she all right?" Sasuke added, glancing over at Naruto and Co.

Little Sora had calmed down enough and had noted Ryuu receiving that kiss from his mother. Looking a little puzzled but mostly curious she just cocked her head, no longer crying though her face was still streaked with tears.

"I think she's fine." Naruto smirked, flicking her nose quickly and getting her to snap out of her daze. "Ne, Chibi-chan?"

"Hai, hai!" Sora giggled, turning to look at him.

Letting out a relieved sigh Sakura smiled, ruffling up Sora's hair as Naruto put her down. "Gave us quite the scare, ne?" She laughed, glancing over at Hinata who nodded. "Quite."

"Off you go then." Naruto added, tickling Sora's sides as she struggled to run away, giggling.

Ryuu was already back in the sand box, waving a plastic shovel in the air. "I'm building a castle, Sora-chan!"

"Matte, matte!" Sora cried, scrambling away finally, blowing her daddy a kiss before rushing after her play mate.

Letting out a sigh as well Naruto straightened.

"That girl is gonna kill me." He smirked, pulling at his blonde hair. "Or give me white streaks."

"You said Sakura would do that." Sasuke smirked, watching in satisfaction as the med nin poked her husband's side. "Did you say that!"

"Hey, it was supposed to be a joke!" Naruto smirked.

Hinata followed after them, straightening out the chairs that Sakura and herself had thrown so carelessly backwards in their haste to stand up earlier.

"How's the baby doing by the way?" Sakura enquired, making Hinata look up quickly. "Oh, Yuri is doing fine, sleeps most of the day, unlike Ryuu who cried most of the time." Hinata smiled, settling down on the chair again.

"Ryuu used to be up most of the time making a racket." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto laughed. "Wow, you have a quiet one? Sora-"

"Is loud." Sakura put in helpfully, giving him a look. "And we're all aware."

"Maybe the one coming will be softer in character." She smiled.

Hinata jumped. "You're pregnant!?"

"Why am I not surprised." Sasuke smirked, though genuinely pleased for his blonde goof of a friend who was grinning quite broadly.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Hinata grinned, grabbing Sakura into a hug that could crush giants.

"Thanks." Sakura smiled, blushing a little sheepishly.

"You're way ahead of us now." Sasuke pointed out. "I mean, that's three."

"Tch, nothing in comparison to Neji." Hinata replied primly, smirking at the memory of having just visited Tenten a few days ago.

"How is she?" Sakura added quickly, jumping on the topic. "I haven't gone to visit her for two months- she must be huge!"

"They said twins." Hinata explained with an eye roll. "But, I'm pretty sure those are triplets, she's huge!"

"Poor Tenten!" Sakura gasped, shaking her head.

"Sakura, it's almost three." Naruto prompted gently, glancing at his watch. "Oh shoot!" Sakura cried, standing up quickly. "What it is?" Hinata blinked, watching them start to get ready to leave. "Going so soon?"

"We have go pick up Noboru from preschool." Sakura explained. "He was so excited to start."

"I bet. That kid has more energy than you two put together." Sasuke muttered, giving then condescending looks.

"Oh shush." Sakura retorted, turning around to call Sora over.

Naruto blinked at the sight of his little girl grabbing Ryuu by the shoulders and planting a rather forceful smooch on his cheek, forcing the little boy to turn a bright shade of red.

With a quick cry of goodbye she was running towards the parents, all of whom were standing around slack jawed.

Ryuu too was stunned, a hand up to where she had kissed, staring.

"Well… uh… Sasuke." Naruto began, turning to look at the Uchiha who's eyebrows were raised way up.

"Hn?" Sasuke enquired, still watching as Ryuu flopped back down onto the ground, blinking.

"Maybe we should consider the possibilities of…"

"Uchiha Sora?" Sakura began, testing out the name. "Sounds right."

"Oh dear." Hinata sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Ok! Otou-san, gimme a ride on your shoulders, pleeeaase?" Sora pouted as she reached them, making Naruto break out in a grin.

"It just never ends." Sasuke sighed, standing up to head towards Ryuu.

He and his son, had some talking to do.

Hinata smiled, glancing over at Sakura who grinned back. "It really never ends, ne?" Sakura laughed, turning to see Sora and Naruto already heading out the door, the little girl riding happily on the Hokage's shoulders, Tsunade-sama having retired long ago to run her chain of hospitals.

"No… it doesn't. How can it?" she smirked, kissing her friend's cheek before leaving. "It's life, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata waved goodbye, smiling still. It was true.

It really was life.

* * *

**_THE END. _**

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**_Woot!!! I finished!!! _**

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**_(goes away dancing) _**

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**_leave me some love!!! _**

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**_-inky _**


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